


Above the waves

by frootjuiceg



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Drowning, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, mentions of - Freeform, sorry if the tags spoil the story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 40,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26974048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frootjuiceg/pseuds/frootjuiceg
Summary: Ikuya stopped to look at the sea that always managed to calm his mind. The sand was sinking beneath his feet and the waves felt warm as they occasionally hit his ankles.But something today was different than on other ones of his regular evening-walks to the beach.There, next to the big rocks, where the waves crashed harder, on the sand sat a brown-haired boy, looking out into the ocean and crying.
Relationships: Kirishima Ikuya & Tono Hiyori, Kirishima Ikuya/Tono Hiyori
Comments: 64
Kudos: 36





	1. 8 years

Ikuya was walking down the familiar beach line.

He had gotten to know the path to the beach very well during the time his father had lived in Shionezaki, a small town by the sea.

His parents had divorced when he was 6 years old and their mother had stayed in Tokyo where he and Natsuya still went to school. The boys visited their father for a month during the summers, like for the past two years already. They had just arrived a week ago, and Ikuya was still getting used to seeing the ocean right from their front door.

He stopped to look at the sea that always managed to calm his mind. The sand was sinking beneath his feet and the waves felt warm as they occasionally hit his ankles. In front of him stood the vast ocean, and behind him beach houses that were still quite unoccupied before the vacation season later in July.

The ocean kept inviting him to swim. He swam with Natsuya everyday while their dad worked. Natsuya usually practiced his swimming, while the 8 year-old Ikuya admired his older brother’s techniques. But the beach was a place where he also liked to be alone, like on this quiet afternoon.

But something today was different than on other ones of his regular evening-walks to the beach.

There, next to the big rocks, where the waves crashed harder, on the sand sat a brown-haired boy, looking out into the ocean- and crying.

He looked the same age as Ikuya, which piqued his interest. He hadn’t yet made any friends in his other, new hometown, only focusing on swimming and playing with Natsuya when they visited their father.

The boy looked just as mysterious as the ocean in front of him. He wore a dark green hoodie, and light shorts, his hands covered by the sleeves of his big shirt as he hugged his knees to his chest. As he inspected the boy, still few meters away, he could see wet tears rolling on his face and down into the sand.

“Hey, are you okay?” He said without thinking, worried for the other boy. He looked fragile as he cried and Ikuya immediately hoped to help him. He felt almost mesmerized by the sight of beautiful hazel eyes that turned to look at him and felt that he wanted to stay in the boy’s presence a little bit longer.

“I’m lost,” a small voice whimpered. Ikuya took careful steps closer. He was almost afraid the boy would wash away with the waves which were the only sound breaking the silence.

“Oh? I can help you find the way if you want. I know the town pretty well.” Before he knew it, Ikuya was sitting beside the boy and had wrapped his arms around his own knees, replicating the other.

“Not.. like that.. I don’t know what to do.. or where I belong..” His crying continued again and he hid his face into his arms.

“Well, that’s a bit harder to answer,” Ikuya smiled. He could tell that the brunette was listening from the way he observed Ikuya’s smile from the corner of his eye. “But I think there’s no right or wrong answer for a question like that. You can belong anywhere where you feel comfortable and can be yourself. I belong in two places at least, if not even more.”

He thought of his mom at Tokyo and his dad here in Shionezaki. Tokyo was where he lived, but he felt just as much at home here with his dad and Natsuya.

When the boy turned to look at Ikuya again, comtemplating his words, Ikuya got an even better opportunity to admire the bright eyes and slightly flushed cheeks.

Since the crying had stopped, Ikuya continued on. “Are you from here? I’ve never seen you before!”

“This is my first time in this.. city. I don’t know anyone here.”

“My dad, my brother and I live close to the beach here! We visit our dad in the summer, but my mom lives in Tokyo. Have you ever been to Tokyo?” He got so excited about this potential new friend that he couldn’t keep the questions inside him and almost forgot to give him time to answer.

“No, I’ve never been the-“

“You should definitely come there some time! I have my own big room and everything!” The boy looked a bit confused, probably from the excessive hospitality and friendliness, but just nodded to Ikuya as an answer. He must not mind then, Ikuya thought and couldn’t help wondering all the things he wanted to know about the boy.

“Hey, do you like the ocean too? I come to this beach every day.”

“I do.. I really like just looking at it and listening to it.”

“Me too! I swim, like, every day and I’m already super fast!”

“I like swimming too.” He smiled and it lit up a new wave of excitement in Ikuya.

“Yeah?! Do you wanna go swim tomorrow with me? We could meet here at the beach!”

“Umm.. I guess it’s fine.” The brunette blushed for some reason and Ikuya immediately noticed how cute and kind his new friend seemed.

“I’m so happy! We can become swimming buddies, then!” he said as he got up. He knew he had to get back home soon, since the sun had almost disappeared into the orange horizon.

“.. I’m Kirishima Ikuya, by the way. Now you have at least one person you know in this town,” he grinned.

“Toono Hiyori..”

\--------

Being friends with Ikuya seemed to be so easy. They agreed to meet at the beach everyday and Ikuya always came up with something to do. Hiyori admired how outgoing, brave and happy Ikuya was, in contrast to his shyness and reserve.

Ikuya showed Hiyori around the neighborhood and all his favorite places there over the course of the next few days. Most of the time they spent by the beach, playing beach volleyball with Natsuya, swimming and getting to know each other. Hiyori retained from calling Ikuya his friend at first, but the teal-haired boy didn’t have the same problem. _Was this what he had been missing all this time?_

Ikuya had introduced his older brother to Hiyori on the second day. Apparently they did everything together, so Hiyori was glad that Ikuya wouldn’t have to give up his time with his brother for him.

“Hiyori-kun, was it? I gotta say I almost thought Ikuya had imagined you, when he yesterday came home almost radiating from happiness.” They liked to bicker a lot, Hiyori learned that very quickly.

Ikuya countered the claim immediately. “I only asked you to come here to show you that he’s real! You can stay but don’t bother Too- Hiyori and me.” Hiyori stared at the two brothers, stunned and blushing.

When Ikuya noticed it, he swiftly corrected: “Oh, you can call me Ikuya.” Hiyori still found it hard to answer with Ikuya’s first name.

After a while of Natsuya asking Hiyori all kinds of questions about him, Ikuya started to chase him away.

“Don’t keep Hiyori-kun all to yourself, Ikuya..” Natsuya had smirked.

“..but Hiyori is _MY_ friend.” Ikuya had answered without any sign of embarrassment, unlike Hiyori. 

\-----------

On the fifth day it had rained, so Ikuya had invited Hiyori to his house. The invitation had made Hiyori fluster, but Ikuya had reassured him that that it wasn’t a big deal and he just wanted to do something fun with Hiyori.

Turned out Ikuya’s father was just as nice as all the Kirishimas. Ikuya had explained their family’s situation to Hiyori, but Hiyori had always been reserved around adults especially.

“Oh, so you’re Toono-kun, huh? So nice to meet you!”

“T-Thank you for letting me visit your home!” Hiyori had bowed.

They had later entered Ikuya and Natsuya’s shared room to play the Xbox.

“Your family is so nice, Ikuya. And I really like your room, too!” Hiyori had stated shyly after he once again lost against Ikuya in the game he had chosen.

“Nah, it’s boring to share a room with Natsuya, but at my dad’s house we don’t have that many rooms. At my mom’s place in Tokyo I have my own room filled with games and stuff, you should totally visit sometime!” he said nonchalantly. “Oh, and I’d love to see your room, Hiyori! It must be really cool too, filled with books and things, because you’re so smart!”

“Books?” Hiyori looked baffled for a while, but Ikuya ignored it.

“Yeah, you must be like the smartest boy in your class! You’re always telling me cool stuff about the sea and.. fish. I wish we’d go to the same school, I would totally have been your friend!” Ikuya threw himself on his bed, thinking about the distance between them during the school year. Ikuya and Natsuya had to go back to Tokyo in a few weeks anyway.

“I don’t think anyone in my class thinks that..”

“But could I visit your house? I wanna see it!”

“I don’t think we can do that. It’s just… my parents are almost never home and they wouldn’t like it.. I also live a bit further, so I don’t think we could even travel there on our own..” Hiyori rubbed his neck sheepishly with a puzzled look.

Hiyori knew it was okay to stay at the beach, but he felt guilty not yet telling his parents about his new friend. He wasn’t sure how they’d react..

“But my dad could take us? And we can ask your parents when I can visit.” Ikuya tried to defend.

“N-No.. It would be too complicated, that’s all.. Maybe in the future, though..” Ikuya had been okay with the answer and dropped the subject. It made Hiyori sigh in relief.

\--------

On the Sunday evening, almost a week after Ikuya and Hiyori had first met, Ikuya had once again dragged Hiyori with him to the beach. They were wading in the shallow water, while Ikuya looked for sea shells.

Hiyori had already found a couple and kept offering them to Ikuya, but he refused and said he wanted to find one himself. Ikuya saw the brunette playfully roll his eyes, which he answered with a splash of water on Hiyori.

When they were exhausted after the water fight, both burst out laughing and turned to the sunset.

“I-Ikuya..” Hiyori started. He sounded worried and Ikuya perked up by the tone of his voice.

“Yeah?” Ikuya smiled trying to reassure him. Hiyori seemed to often be unsure of himself, his opinions and choices, so Ikuya wanted to be extra friendly to him, when he noticed his friend acting insecure.

“Tomorrow.. I have to go back to my home. Like I said, it’s a bit further so I can’t see you anymore, though. I’m sorry, I should have told you sooner, maybe..”

“When can we see again?”

Hiyori turned to him surprised, when he had just a second ago looked so sad. Ikuya already wanted to think forward, look into the future instead of the past. And he really wanted to see Hiyori again.

“Next summer. I come back here only for the first week of July, just like this year. So we can meet then.”

“A whole year..” Ikuya’s smile faltered for a while. “I’m going to miss you, though.” He forced his smile back.

Hiyori smiled back to him, even if Ikuya could see sadness in his eyes too.

“I’ll miss you, too. But we can meet then again, the first of July, here in the evening.”

Ikuya was excited about their promise. It was a promise to stay friends and stay in each other’s lives and Ikuya hoped they could keep it as long as possible, even with the distance between them.

“I’ll definitely be there!”

While Ikuya returned to his father and his loving family that comforted him after Hiyori’s unexpected departure, Hiyori returned to his parents even more lost than he had been a week prior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally starting on this fic I've had in my mind for months! It's also my first fic in the Free!fandom and with this pairing.
> 
> I personally fell in love with Hiyori and Ikuya's dynamic in the show, and I can really see myself in Hiyori in many ways, so that's why I wanted to write about them. I've been reading a lot of Hiyoiku fics and I hope you'll like this one too. I had the idea in my mind for a while and have about 5 chapters written so far. It'll probably be around 10 chapters in total, so stay tuned :)))
> 
> Any guesses where the story is going? Comments and kudos are very much appreciated and I'd love to dicuss this adorable pair!! <33
> 
> I will update Sundays if I only manage to edit in time! See you then<3


	2. 9 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ikuya's sitting on the sofa at his father's house. He can't shake of the feeling that he's forgotten something.

It was the first of July and Ikuya was sitting on the sofa at his father’s in Shionezaki. Their father was making dinner in the kitchen and Natsuya was next to him, watching the tv.

Ikuya had had a troublesome year and was happy to finally have a break from it. Some of the friends in his class had moved away from Tokyo, leaving Ikuya, Kisumi and Asahi behind. He heard that in Iwatobi, Haru and Makoto had even started in the swim club, a dream that all four of them had planned to achieve together. It made Ikuya jealous. Haru and Makoto had always had each other and now swimming connected them too. Even Asahi and Kisumi were best friends (even if they denied it), but Ikuya...

Ikuya had tried joining the swim club, encouraged by his friends in Tokyo and Iwatobi, who he still kept in touch with, but the school’s club wasn’t taking any new members this year. Ikuya had to wait for places to open up or a qualifier to be organized. Ikuya knew he might get a place on the team in a qualifier, even if his techniques were very much lacking still.

He hadn’t felt this lonely for a long time, probably since the last summer. Though he couldn’t really point out why last summer had felt so special.

Ikuya once again glanced at the clock on the wall and the time seemed to drag out, almost 9 in the evening. He had been bored for the whole weekend after arriving to Shionezaki. The weather had been bad, so he had had nothing to do, except slump on the sofa, inside, and had even prevented them from going to the beach. _The beach?_

Instead of the time, he glanced at the date on his phone and he remembered why it had seemed so familiar, why he had felt so restless the whole day.

He suddenly remembered the brown hair and hazel eyes, the shyness and sea shells he had offered to Ikuya the last time they had spoken. And what Hiyori had said about meeting him again.

Before he could explain his intentions to his family, he sprinted out of the door. It was so late that he was afraid that Hiyori had left the beach already, if he had been there at all.

The thought of Hiyori waiting, alone on the beach for him, only for Ikuya to forget about their promise completely, made Ikuya’s heart drop. He felt so bad that he had forgotten about his friend, he probably had so much to think about this year and no one had really mentioned him for many months.

But he also felt less alone, remembering he had a friend like Hiyori, that he was never completely alone. And he didn’t want to forget him again.

The beach was empty at a first look. Ikuya kept searching for any kind of sign that Hiyori had been at their usual meeting place at the beach. Though everywhere he looked the beach stood untouched and unoccupied before him, even if the rain had already stopped.

He kept walking, glancing around him until his eyes found a pier. He was surprised when he saw a figure sitting there, someone with brown hair and a green hoodie.

He felt his heart leap when he recognized the features from last summer.

“Hiyori!” he shouted. The other looked up from his hands, turned his head to the direction of the voice until his eyes found Ikuya.

He run up to Hiyori and panted after running all the way from his dad’s house.

“I’m.. so glad.. so glad that you’re still here.” He tried to pick up his breath.

“Ikuya! But.. I wasn’t excpecting you to come anymore.. It’s so late.. ” Hiyori looked surprised.

“Huh? Then what are _you_ still doing here?” Ikuya raised his eyebrow.

“I guess I was still hoping you’d come anyway.” Hiyori looked away again, his cheeks blushing slightly.

“Well..” Ikuya crouched in front of Hiyori. “I’m here now!” He grinned at his friend and Hiyori answered with a happy smile.

“Though I have to admit” Ikuya continued, casting his eyes to his feet. “I had already forgotten about meeting you. After the school year started, I somehow felt that it had been like a dream! I mean, you appearing out of nowhere and then disappearing again.” Ikuya pouted at the memory of last summer and how his father had comforted him about Hiyori, while he had sobbed on his bed.

But Ikuya had a second chance now and he wanted to make it count. He liked Hiyori a lot, remembered how much fun he had had and how comforting Hiyori’s presence was to him. He couldn’t wait what they’d come up with this summer! _Unless…_

“So, are you leaving again at some point?” he frowned deeper, searching for Hiyori’s eyes.

“Y-Yeah. In a week.” Hiyori looked so apologetic he must have thought Ikuya’d just leave him after hearing that.

“So, we need to have an awesome week then, right?”

\--------------

Their week consisted of swimming, playing, talking and more swimming. Ikuya kept admiring how much Hiyori knew about the sea and the world. Even if Hiyori was shy, he could go on talking about topics (other than himself) for hours. Ikuya would talk just as eagerly as Hiyori, but with even more volume and enthusiasm. And when he talked, Hiyori was always listening like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

They often talked hours on end, which Ikuya never did with anyone else. He could completely forget that he had felt lonely during the year when he was with Hiyori.

They often hanged out at Ikuya’s house. Ikuya had asked Hiyori several times if he’d like to stay over, but he had refused every time, explaining how his parents wouldn’t allow it.

Ikuya had heard only brief mentions about Hiyori’s family. His parents were in respected professions, doctors of some kind, and they seemed to expect a lot from Hiyori. At least, that Hiyori always obeyed them and did what they asked of him. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with it, but Hiyori seemed to listen to his parents more out of fear or insecurity than respect and love. Ikuya didn’t want to make any assumptions until he'd hear more.

Hiyori would overall not talk about his life a lot. Ikuya didn’t know what school he attended, which town he even lived in or what his parents’ names were. He didn’t mind as long as it didn’t affect their friendship, but he would want to eventually know everything about his new best friend.

The last day together, Ikuya wanted to do something, well, unforgettable with Hiyori.

When he found out that a funfair was visiting the town that weekend, Ikuya begged Hiyori to go there with him. Of course, Hiyori always agreed to anything Ikuya suggested. He even dared to claim that he had never been to one, and now Ikuya was even more excited.

As they walked towards the fair, Hiyori’s face alternated between excitement and nervousness when Ikuya listed all the attractions there. 

First, Ikuya dragged Hiyori to the small roller coaster. Ikuya loved the thrill of the ride, but Hiyori looked sick the moment the first slope started. He squealed the whole ride, even when Ikuya tried to reduce the fear by holding Hiyori’s hand, though he did lean into Ikuya more and more. Afterwards Hiyori claimed that the ride wouldn’t be as bad on the second time.

But it had only been the beginning, compared to the haunted house Ikuya took Hiyori next.

Hiyori tried to stay brave, but after the first scare he was already clinging onto Ikuya’s shirt, sleeve or arm. The more he was scared the closer he got to Ikuya, who also tried to put on a brave face as best as he could. But it was hard focusing on the scares when Hiyori held onto him so tightly.

When suddenly a zombie threw itself at them from the ceiling, Hiyori had jumped to hug Ikuya and beg him to lead them out of the house. Ikuya decided he needed to comfort his best friend, hugged him back before telling him that ‘everything was going to be okay’. He led them both out, hand tightly intertwined with Hiyori’s.

To make up for all the horror, they went to play some games and eat. They ordered fries and bought cotton candy which made Hiyori smile again. _Good,_ Ikuya wanted to always be able to make Hiyori smile.

They headed to the small arcade of the fair, Ikuya showing all his favorite games (that he was good at) and managed a new high-score in one of them. Hiyori praised him like it was the most amazing thing ( _which it was!_ ). Ikuya had hoped to show Hiyori how awesome he was, but it surprised him that his face kept getting warmer and warmer from every compliment.

Ikuya's interest was soon captured by the many claw machines at the back of the arcade. They only had coins left anyway, so now Ikuya had an even greater plan to impress Hiyori again. Though, he had never actually won the claw machines.

“So, how do these work?” Hiyori glanced at the claw and the stuffed toys under it.

Ikuya was already ready to place his own coin inside the machine.

“Hiyori! You’ve never tried claw machines? You use the buttons to pick up the prize with the claw. But they’re evil! Even _I_ have never won.” Ikuya put the coin in and started pushing the buttons rapidly. The claw landed on one of the bear plushies but it didn’t even budge.

“Aww man!!” As Ikuya was too focused on the game, he didn’t notice when Hiyori wandered around, looking at the other machines.

Hiyori inspected the different kind of toys inside the machines, until his eyes landed on the game with ocean creatures, sharks, octopuses and whales. There was one lonely beluga whale on top of the pile, white and smiling. Hiyori was drawn to it for some reason.

“Hey, Ikuya. Can you give me some coins to try too?” he walked back and held out his hand.

“Sure! But don’t be disappointed, this is suuper hard, though! Which one are you gonna try?” Ikuya followed Hiyori to the machine.

Hiyori pointed at the ocean-themed one. He placed the coin inside and the machine lit up. On the contrary to Ikuya’s tactic, Hiyori calmly moved the claw to match the beluga and pressed the claw to drop.

Ikuya was following the movements carefully. He did hope that Hiyori would win. Maybe it would make Hiyori smile that happy smile again!

He got distracted from his thoughts when the toy dropped out of the machine and Hiyori lifted the beluga up.

“Oh.. that was interesting.” Hiyori inspected the plushie in his hands.

“Wh- How did you get it!?” Ikuya looked at the prize, shocked to his core.

“Umm.. I just.. did.” Hiyori shrugged. Ikuya was still shocked, but also disappointed that Hiyori wasn’t showing Ikuya's favorite smile.

“Wow! I really always thought it was impossible! Now I _really_ want to win one and beat you, haha..” Ikuya grinned.

“Oh, you can have this, if you want.” Hiyori showed the beluga to Ikuya.

“It’s not the same thing! That’s _your_ prize, you won it.” Ikuya held his hands in front of him. He hoped he hadn’t made Hiyori feel bad about winning now. _He_ just wanted to be the one to win _Hiyori_ something.

“I don’t think I can take this home, actually. It would be so much better that it has a loving family with you by the sea! And I know you like belugas, too.” Hiyori offered the stuffed toy forward again.

Ikuya didn’t want to argue about it. So, instead he took the toy into his hands and stared at its bead-eyes. After a while he started smiling at the happy beluga. _I guess it was okay this way too!_

“Thank you, Hiyori. He’ll be making sure I’ll never forget you anymore. Because now I have something I can remember you by!” Ikuya smiled widely.

Hiyori’s eyes widened and his cheeks flushed.

“I mean, I can remember how much fun we had today and this week!” Ikuya corrected, when his friend seemed out of words.

“I had so much fun too..”

_Ah_ , there the smile was.. Ikuya wouldn’t mind looking at it more often.

\-------------------------------------

Sunday evening the boys spent again in Ikuya’s room, playing games and stuffing their faces with more sweets they bought at the fair.

Ikuya was lying on his bed, the new plushie under his arms as he chewed on licorice and followed the credits of the movie they had just watched. Soon afte, he sighed and threw himself on his back on the bed.

“So, tomorrow you have to leave home so you won’t be here in Shionezaki anymore?” he tried to understand the reason why he’d once again have to be alone for the rest of the summer.

He had asked about it many times, but there was still things he wouldn’t understand.

“Y-Yeah, and we live a bit further away, so I can’t see you.” Hiyori was acting more shy again, uncomfortable from the topic, maybe?

“But! You’ll come back next summer, right?” Ikuya smiled sadly.

“I will.. It’s the only time I can, so I will be here.”

“I’ll meet you here, Hiyori, I promise! But.. I’d hope I could keep in touch with you during the school-year, too.. I want to tell you every time something exciting happens..” he pouted and fiddled with the beluga.

“Umm.. don’t you have friends at school, too?” Ikuya didn’t like the change of subject.

“But you’re my _best_ friend! They already know what happens at school, but I want to talk to you about everything else, too. So, here!” He handed Hiyori a piece of paper, which held figures Hiyori interpreted as a phone number.

“It’s the phone number of the house phone at my mom’s. So we can call each other and talk sometime!” Ikuya turned on his stomach and rested his face on his arms.

“Ikuya..” Hiyori tried to start.

“Well, my mom won’t let me hang on the phone all night or even every day but I think it’s fine as long as you don’t call me everyday!” Ikuya grinned. “It’ll be fun, it’s like we’re together again!”

“Yeah..” Hiyori nodded and smiled back. Ikuya could tell he was insecure and uneasy. _It’s so hard to read Hiyori! Why’s he acting like this?_

“Hiyori, this is embarrassing and I’m sorry if I insult you but.. do you even like being with me?” he looked up to his friend.

“O-of course, I do! I would say if I didn’t!” Both of them knew Hiyori probably wouldn’t, though.

“But I’m your best friend? Right?” Ikuya crawled closer on the bed. He could already feel his throat shut as he became more and more uncertain about himself. He had so much fun with Hiyori, he didn’t know how he’d react if he was left alone again.

“You are! I’m just.. a bit hard to be friends with and I feel I’m not even a good friend to begin with..”

“Don’t think like that! Friendship isn’t about being useful or even helpful, but trust and, like, having fun with each other.” Hiyori frowned for a while longer, until he sighed.

“Yeah, you’re right.. You are my best friend and you can trust me when I say that I’m happy and having fun when I’m with you.”

“So, you're going to call me?” Ikuya was smiling again, bouncing on the bed as he got up.

“Y-Yeah..” Hiyori couldn’t say anything else.

It made Ikuya laugh and smile more.

Hiyori tried to enjoy his friend’s joy. Ikuya’s friendship and kindness meant so much him. He hadn’t even expected Ikuya to come back to him in the first place. He appreciated every day he got to spend with Ikuya, but he didn’t like how it increased the feeling of uneasiness inside him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos, you guys! Hope I made the beginning interesting enough for you to continue ;)))
> 
> I can't get over picturing Ikuya and Hiyori as 9-year old, tiny children getting to know each other and becoming best friends! They deserved to have a strong friendship right from the start T-T I love writing an energetic, happy Ikuya, until he becomes a bit more of a.. realist in the series ;)))) I love him anyway!
> 
> I will be using the canon universe a lot to build their backgrounds in this fic, but I won't be following canon, even if there will be some/many similarities :) I just want to write like this story *could* have happened in canon!
> 
> Thanks for reading and the kudos! I'll update every Sunday <3


	3. 10 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ikuya waits for a long time and afterwards has many things to solve with Hiyori.

When Ikuya returned with Natsuya back to Tokyo a few weeks after Hiyori’s departure that year, he immediately asked his mother if his friend had called him yet. When his mother answered negatively, Ikuya pouted for a while but then continued his day, preparing for the start of the new semester.

When the school started, Ikuya was sure Hiyori would call! He had already imagined they talk about their school work, classes and clubs. Or how Ikuya’s first tests of the new period had gone, or how he’d met up with Haru and Makoto in Tokyo. But no call came.

The leaves had already fallen and the first snow came, and Ikuya was still waiting. He wondered if Hiyori had again forgotten him, but the thought seemed impossible. _No,_ he must just not have anything to talk about or maybe had even lost the number Ikuya gave him.

He hoped that Hiyori would call and wish him a merry Christmas. Or maybe a Happy New Year.

When Ikuya was finally let into their school’s swim team in January, he would have first called Hiyori to tell about it. When he got into their relay team, he also wanted Hiyori to hear it first. He didn’t want to tell about how they’d lost their first competitions, though.

More than anything, he would’ve just wanted to hear Hiyori’s voice. To know that the boy was still there and still cared. That he wasn’t just a product of his imagination, a theory that seemed very credible again.

The flowers on the cherry trees bloomed and Ikuya wasn’t even excepting a call anymore. He just wanted to know _why_ he hadn't received a call all year. _  
_

When the summer holiday began again and Ikuya and Natsuya were starting to pack to go to their dad’s house, Ikuya was bursting at the seams. He hadn’t doubted Hiyori for a second, sure that he just had to wait a bit longer for Hiyori to call him. Now he’d had enough and felt betrayed and angry.

He didn’t know if Hiyori was going to show up at the beach this summer (if he even dared to show his face), but Ikuya was definitely going to find him. He wanted to let out his frustration at the boy himself, though he knew it only stemmed from hurt, fear and worry. Ikuya wouldn’t forgive him that easily, not without a proper explanation, but he also hoped that soon they could hang out and play with each other like nothing had happened.

\------

So when Ikuya basically stomped to the beach a few weeks later and saw Hiyori again, casually swinging his feet in the sea from the pier, he wasn’t even happy to see him at first.

There was something new about Hiyori, but that would have to wait for now.

“Hiyori, what the frick?” the ten year old shouted, still modest as he should be.

“Ah, Ikuya!” Hiyori turned to him and got up, feet wet from the sea.

Ikuya didn’t know how to voice his anger now, though he had had many weeks to practice what he wanted to say.

“What’s up with you?! I trusted you! I thought we were best friends!” That was basically the gist of it. He was angry at being ingored, yes, but more than that he was scared of being fooled and left alone. _Was he the idiot in the end? Would Hiyori just laugh at him and tell him ‘what were you thinking’?_

Hiyori was surprised by the loud tone and looked scared. Ikuya knew how much Hiyori disliked conflicts, but then he’d have to be more careful not to cause them.

“Ikuya, I can explain..”

“Do you think I even want to hear it anymore? I waited for your call, for _you,_ months and months on end! You never even tried to contact me, Hiyori?” His eyes were stinging and he didn’t like what that meant. He wanted to be angry, not to act _weak_ right now.

“I couldn’t.. I’m so sorry, I should have explained sooner.” Hiyori fiddled with his shirt.

Ikuya’s eyes were overflowing with tears now. He hated crying, especially in front of others, so he just lowered his head.

Hiyori tried to come closer, probably to comfort him like Hiyori always did. Instead Ikuya shoved him back, softly but sternly.

“Just.. I waited all this time. Don’t you care how _I_ feel?” He wasn’t shouting anymore.

“Of course I care, Ikuya. I’m so sorry, I couldn’t do anything about it..” Hiyori clenched his fists. Ikuya could tell Hiyori wasn’t at least faking it, but he wasn’t speaking straight either.

“Those just sound like excuses to me..” Ikuya started walking away, turning his back to Hiyori.

“Ahh.. you don’t want to see me anymore?” Hiyori’s voice sounded so panicked. Ikuya hoped he could hurt Hiyori back just a little, but he was already feeling guilty for causing Hiyori to sound like that.

“No, I do, but I just want to be alone for today..” He was relieved that Hiyori had been at the beach in the end. He would have wanted to stay with Hiyori, but he couldn’t allow himself, not before this issue was solved. But no matter what he was thinking, he couldn’t wait to just get his best friend back.

\------

Ikuya, his dad and brother sat at the breakfast table the next morning, when they heard the doorbell ring.

Their dad had made pancakes to cheer Ikuya up, when he had come home last night stomping and banging doors. This morning Ikuya just looked restless as he sat at the table in his shark-pyjamas, hair still sticking up, rolling the pancake pieces on his plate with his fork. _He was clearly waiting for something,_ their dad concluded.

When their dad found Hiyori at the door, the puzzle pieces clicked.

“Is it okay if I invite him in?” Ikuya’s dad ruffled and smoothed Ikuya’s hair affectionately before calling Hiyori inside.

“I think we’ll just take a walk.” Ikuya hesitated for a moment, but then got up and walked to his room to change.

Ikuya’s dad had escorted Hiyori into the kitchen and Ikuya gestured for Hiyori to follow him outside when he came back downstairs.

Ikuya had forgotten what he’d seen yesterday, something about Hiyori was different. He had glasses now, though he hadn’t wanted to mention them the day before for obvious reasons.

“Are you still angry? Which is fine, of course.” Hiyori asked quietly when they left through the front door and Ikuya started leading them to a bench that overlooked the sea.

“I am, but I’m giving you another chance to talk now.” He had promised himself that he’d try to approach the subject more calmly today. Maybe he wouldn’t end up crying this time.

“Okay..” Hiyori followed him and took a seat on the bench, observing the beach in front of them where families were enjoying their day.

“It’s my parents. The reason why I couldn’t contact you.. Don’t get me wrong, it’s my fault for not telling you the truth, though.” Ikuya had crossed his arms, mimicking the way his mom and dad usually posed when Ikuya had done something bad.

“It’s just.. my family’s a bit.. strange. They’re really protective about me, so when I told them that I have a friend here that I’d like to keep in touch with, they kept on about how important school is and how I should just focus on my education and befriend kids closer, at my school.”

Ikuya frowned. “Why is it bad to stay friends with me too?”

“Umm, you see.. They’re kinda afraid of everything.. different. Not that you’re that different to us, but because they don’t know you or your family, they are very cautious, like they usually are.” Hiyori still wasn’t facing Ikuya.

“But as I said,” Hiyori continued. “I should have told you this was the situation. I just thought that you wouldn’t want to be friends anymore if you knew that we couldn’t even keep in touch.” Now Hiyori frowned too and side-eyed Ikuya briefly.

Ikuya’s anger had dissipated, but he was still confused. It was a perfectly credible reason, even if Ikuya couldn’t understand a family dynamic like that. He wouldn’t let his parents keep him away from people he cared about.

“Well, what do you think about your parents’ decision? Can’t you decide stuff like that yourself?”

Hiyori frowned deeper for a second, but then laughed awkwardly. “I guess I’m afraid of them, actually. They love me, so they always expect a lot from me. They are strict and they work a lot, so I’m often alone and have to be responsible. I don’t.. want to disappoint them.”

Ikuya felt bad about that. Hiyori did seem to have some problems at home, maybe bigger than he’d anticipated. He wouldn’t blame him for not exactly announcing it so openly. Ikuya too had been embarrassed of his parents and family when they first had gotten the divorce.

“I wish you’d tell me stuff like that. I can understand not wanting to, though.” Ikuya admitted. Hiyori finally turned his head to look at Ikuya again.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’m very careful when talking about my life, but I want to tell you.” He smiled just a bit.

“I would really love to hear more, too. You’re important to me.” Ikuya had promised to keep his eyes dry, which turned out harder than he liked.

Hiyori just nodded at that and Ikuya felt the atmosphere turn back to normal, or at least less tense.

“But what’s with the glasses?” Ikuya glanced at Hiyori, succeeding in keeping his tone neutral.

“Oh, I got them.. quite recently. Apparently I need them now.” Hiyori rubbed the back of his head.

“Well, if they make the world look brighter, than yeah.”

“I guess they do, I just hadn’t noticed before actually.”

Ikuya’s face _was_ indeed now easier to see to Hiyori. Hiyori noticed the faint freckles in Ikuya’s pale skin, individual hairs that had fallen on his face, long lashes and deep-colored eyes. Even Ikuya noticed how closely Hiyori was inspecting him, and smiled, leaning even closer to take a look at Hiyori’s face behind the glasses.

“A-Are they weird or something?” Hiyori blinked and realized how close they were.

“No, they suit you. You look a lot smarter, at least and kinda cuter.” Ikuya said what he thought, not seeing anything wrong with it, but Hiyori blushed and started pouting.

“Thanks..”

\------

Because they hadn’t been able to talk to each other, the next days were really spent just catching up. Mostly it was stories about Ikuya’s new swim team, though. Hiyori had never seen him so proud of something when he told Hiyori that he was on their school’s relay team.

“—And next year I can already compete against my old friends, who are also on their school’s teams.” Ikuya explained to him. Hiyori had heard the stories several times already but was always mesmerized by Ikuya’s enthusiasm for his club and hobby. He’d be happy to hear the stories many more times.

They were playing in the sea again, Ikuya showing off all the different swimming styles he had learned. Hiyori could see that Ikuya had really made progressed, he even had new swimming gear, glasses and everything.

“Hey, wanna compete against me? Free-style?” he suddenly suggested.

“What? You’re the one on the team, I don’t really know anything about competitive swimming.” Hiyori waved his hands in front of him as they stood in the shallow water.

“But you _are_ a good swimmer, though, so no pressure!” They both knew Ikuya just wanted to show off his skills. Hiyori decided to accept the challenge, even if only to entertain Ikuya.

They decide to race to a buoy, 100 meters from the shore. Ikuya counted down for them and the both dove into the water, heading towards the 'finish line'.

\------

To Ikuya’s surprise, he actually needed to compete seriously against Hiyori. They were almost halfway already and Hiyori was keeping up really well, almost head to head with Ikuya.

He was still confident that he would win, but Hiyori somehow moved in the water so.. smoothly. Like he didn’t need to work but was carried by the water, gliding through it. Ikuya tried to pick up his own pace, but Hiyori always matched it.

Just when they were nearing the goal, Ikuya took the lead and touched the buoy, a few seconds before Hiyori. He grabbed onto the floating object and panted, while Hiyori calmly swam to his side after finishing.

“You’re really good, Ikuya!” He exclaimed.

“Are you sure you didn’t lose on purpose? It feels a bit like it..” Ikuya pouted.

“No, of course not! I just had already used all my energy..” Ikuya knew Hiyori had noticed how competitive he was, so he took Hiyori’s answer with a grain of salt but was proud to have won anyway.

“Well, you swam well, too.. But it’s _actually_ the technique that’s the most important--”

_Here he goes again_ , Hiyori thought but just smiled adoringly.

\-------

Ikuya had to say good-bye once again to his best-friend on the last day of the week.

It felt harder every year because they had got even closer during each week.

Ikuya had taken Hiyori to an arcade, they’d visited a shrine in town, baked some cookies on a rainy day and watched Ikuya’s favorite movies. They had laughed and talked and shared even more of themselves to each other.

Best of all, he felt like he trusted his best friend to come see him every year, even if Hiyori’s parents forbid him from calling Ikuya this year again. He did feel like nothing could come between them anymore, and it was reassuring.

They had reached the bus stop where Hiyori was supposed to take the bus home. Ikuya had had to beg for Hiyori to let him walk Hiyori to the bus stop. Hiyori had insisted it wasn’t necessary, but Ikuya called it ‘a best friend’s right’.

It was almost getting dark as the last pink rays of the sun washed over the skies. The two sat silently on the bench, Ikuya rocking his feet while Hiyori followed the back-and-forth movement.

“Haa..” Ikuya sighed. “Are you sure you need to go already? Maybe you could stay the night and go tomorrow.” Ikuya asked, trying to hide his desperation.

“S-Sorry, Ikuya, it’s what I promised to my parents.” He smiled weakly.

“Well, you need to promise me too that next summer you can stay over for a night. We can have a slumber party!” Ikuya was laughing again, though it felt awkward at the moment.

“Y-Yeah..” Hiyori looked away.

“Hiyori..” Ikuya started. He didn’t know what he wanted to say yet, but he knew how Hiyori sometimes was too hard on himself and how highly he seemed to think of Ikuya and their friendship, even too much, since it often made Hiyori insecure and doubtful. Ikuya just wanted Hiyori to be himself, _the Hiyori_ that Ikuya had seen this week and hoped that Hiyori wouldn’t let anything make him so scared that he wouldn’t be able to be that.

“.. you’re sometimes super hard to read. But I really want learn how to do it!” Hiyori was looking at him a bit puzzled. “I mean that I am just as invested in this friendship as you are. I want to be able to help you whatever you’d need help with, so that we can remain friends. I hope you know that.”

“.. I don’t really know what your life or family or school is _really_ like, but I promise you: You can always, _always_ come back here and come back to me, whenever you need to. Even if I’m not here, we can contact each other through my dad or something.” Ikuya had been frowning, the most serious Hiyori had probably ever seen him, but after it a smile graced his face again.

“So, don’t forget that” he finally said and looked at Hiyori. _Don’t forget me_ , he wanted to say.

Hiyori seemed relieved too and answered by taking Ikuya’s hand in his’s. Soon the bus drove around the corner and stopped in front of them. Hiyori let go of Ikuya’s hand but not before looking Ikuya deep into his eyes and squeezing the hand. Ikuya interpeted it as a _Thank you_. Hiyori got on the bus and it drove Hiyori away from Ikuya, leaving him without a hand to hold.

_Please, don’t forget us_ , _Hiyori,_ he thought finally, still seeing Hiyori’s blushing and smiling face clearly in his mind.

He couldn’t have known that he’d see that face next behind the door of his father’s house a night in July, 5 years later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit shorter and nothing suuper important happens, but it's a necessary chapter for the future :)) I just want to establish their friendship even more and I still love writing tiny Ikuya and tiny Hiyori!!! <3
> 
> Thank you everyone that's reading or following this fic, I hope I can keep you along til the end! This fic is very dear to me, since I'd been drafting it for months, but now I'm getting a bit critical over the stuff I write months ago lol. 
> 
> That's why I really appreciate feedback and kudos, makes me feel motivated that someone's reading my story! <3  
> Next update is coming next Sunday!


	4. 15 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ikuya spends five years without his best friend, unknowing what had happened to Hiyori, until he finally gets to chance to ask about it.

Ikuya only faintly remembered that he used to have a friend at Shionezaki. Thinking of him or hearing his name felt so distant now, when the last time he saw Hiyori was 5 years ago.

The only reminder of his friend was the white beluga plushie that always sat on his bed at his dad’s house. It didn’t really hold the same meaning anymore, now representing forgotten memories and happy days from his childhood, stained with nostalgia and pain. He had purposely pushed all of the memories of Hiyori into the back of his mind and didn’t want to bring them to the surface anymore. Not until one rainy night in July, that is.

That night, Ikuya and his family had already been preparing to go to bed, Natsuya in the bathroom and Ikuya playing with his phone on the couch, when a faint knock was heard from the door. Their dad went to open it, confused as to who could be at their house at 10 pm. Ikuya had told his family that he and Hiyori didn’t keep in touch anymore (they had worried it was because of a fight, but Ikuya told them to not mind his business), but that made Ikuya’s dad even more surprised to see the familiar face when he finally opened the door.

“Hiyori-kun, is that you?” he asked softly.

Ikuya heard talking from the hallway, but didn’t have interest in the situation in the first place.

But then his dad came to ask him to go to the door, while he went to get a towel for the drenched boy on their doorstep, so Ikuya had to get up.

He walked to the door in his plain dark pyjamas, his hair a bit ruffled already. He could swear that time stopped and he was sent 5 years to the past, when he saw familiar eyes staring back at him from the door.

He had opened his mouth but nothing came out. His eyes had widened too and mind was going a mile a minute, but he couldn’t get anything out of his mouth.

Neither seemed the other, who Ikuya concluded to be his former best friend. Only the glasses and bright but sad eyes behind them made Ikuya sure of the person’s identity. _Hiyori_ was standing in front of him, in only a t-shirt and black jeans, his hair sticking to his forehead and water running down all over his face and arms.

Ikuya wasn’t going to start talking. _No way would he even have anything to say to this now-stranger_. Hiyori had disappeared on him after the evening Ikuya had walked him to his bus. He had never known where he’d gone or why. And he had had a lot of time to think about it, go through every scenario why his best friend had abandoned him. He hadn’t even known if Hiyori was _alive_ anymore. So, _no, he didn’t have anything to say to Hiyori._

“Hi, Ikuya” Ikuya was snapped back to reality, staring at Hiyori who didn’t even smile at him. His voice was much lower than the last time he had heard it, and now he could take the rest of Hiyori’s appearance in.

They were roughly the same age, but everything about Hiyori made Ikuya doubt that fact. He was now taller than Ikuya, if only by some ten centimeters, his shoulders a lot broader and his build more masculine and sturdy, whereas Ikuya had been left quite lanky and short, regardless that he had build a lot of muscle through swimming. The sight was new but still so unmistakably familiar and _Hiyori_ that it made his heart ache in his chest.

But if Hiyori was here, it meant that he must have wanted something with Ikuya- their friendship back, some time with him or maybe just a place to sleep. But Hiyori was more foolish than Ikuya knew if he thought he could just try and walk back into Ikuya’s life without an explanation, only to possibly disappear again to God knows where. He couldn’t deny that their relationship was still fixable (as if Ikuya could ever really push Hiyori away), even if it was broken from the years of guilt, anger and neglect Ikuya had had to handle.

“What are you doing here?” It came out desperate, which was exactly the feeling that Ikuya could sense crawling up his spine.

“I-I.. had a fight with my parents.. and I didn’t know where to go.” Hiyori’s voice was quiet and raspy. Ikuya wondered if he had been crying, how long he had been alone in the rain before he decided to risk coming to Ikuya’s dad’s house.

“And you said I could always come back here.. and it’s pretty unfair of me to use it so selfishly in a situation like this, but.. could I stay for the night?” His eyes were pleading to be let in, to the warmth of their house, to warm Ikuya’s cold stare and even colder heart with his presence. Ikuya didn’t know yet if he wanted that.

But he had made a promise to Hiyori and he was a man of his words.

He gestured Hiyori to come inside and ignored the uncertainty in his heart. He wanted to be able to fix this, but it wasn’t in his hands. 

As they walked to their room, Ikuya’s dad handed Hiyori a towel, while Ikuya announced that Hiyori would stay the night with them. His dad agreed, telling Hiyori to sleep on Natsuya’s bed, while the older brother took the couch.

Ikuya’s heart sped up when he thought of all the things he wanted to say. He wasn’t ready to go through all the emotions he had felt for years. He also wasn’t ready for whatever Hiyori was going to say, the hurt or pain that it might cause him.

He led them both to his and Natsuya’s room, which hadn’t changed much. Ikuya purposely even hid the beluga plushie under his covers, but he knew Hiyori had noticed the action. He didn’t want to appear vulnerable or weak- opening up about his feelings was hard enough as it was. When Ikuya had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at 13, most of his relationships had deteriorated, resulting in loneliness and bottling up everything he felt. He had been getting better to deal with his stuff, but he hadn’t received the comfort and trust from the one person he most wanted it from.

“So what’s going on with you?” Ikuya started when Hiyori had sat on the bed, but Ikuya couldn’t. He wanted Hiyori to notice his cold tone.

Hiyori clenched his fists on his thighs as he answered.

“Like I said, I fought with my mum and dad. We fight a lot sometimes, but this time it was big. They said things I just can’t accept.”

“What did they say?” Hiyori was looking away from him.

“They try to tell me how I should live my life. It’s like all is decided for me already and I have no say in it. They’ve always been telling me what’s good for me and stuff, but... they made it sound like it’s hopeless for me.”

“Why would you listen to them? You’ve mentioned this many times before. I know it’s hard to speak against your parents, but it’s your life?” Ikuya’s initial anger was now turning to frustration.

“For my people.. I mean, our social status and everything, things are expected to be done in a certain way. I’m fine with it though, but not even having a choice to do anything differently is what I can’t understand. They mean good and say this because they care, but they’re making me give up a big part of who I am if I listen to them.”

“What do you mean?”

“They try to forbid me of going to certain places or meeting certain people” Hiyori answered vaguely. “.. and in the same time basically denying who I am and what I want. It hate to hear them say that.”

“Hiyori..” he let the name slip from his lips unnoticed, while he tensed. “Does that have something to do with.. us?”

Hiyori hid his face from Ikuya’s gaze and nodded. “They don’t want me to see you..” he almost whispered.

“What? What does that even mean?! They can’t decide who you’re friends with-“ Ikuya’s voice rose suddenly.

“If it’s you people, they can.” Hiyori stated. Ikuya was left gawking at the statement, not even understanding what Hiyori was talking about.

“But you never told me it was this bad. You knew about this, right?” Ikuya let his voice break a bit.

“I thought you wouldn’t understand if I explained. We were even so young back then..”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you basically lied to me. I was so worried what had happened, but now I just feel stupid, because I just.. waited for so long, god!” Ikuya felt his heart pounding in his chest. He pulled his hand through his hair, wanting to get rid of all the feelings inside his head.

Hiyori stayed calm, but was looking at Ikuya with worried eyes.

“I can never ask you to forgive me, Ikuya. I must have hurt you so much and knowing that makes me sick of myself. But I never threw our friendship away or forgot you. Even though I was convinced by my parents that I should and will never see you again, I wanted to come back. But being a coward, it took my 5 years and a big fight to finally get the courage. If I hadn't stood up against them this time, I probably could have never..”

Ikuya looked at his friend with unfallen tears in his eyes, while Hiyori continued.

“But I don't expect anything from you, but I’m here now and I want to decide for myself, after so long of not being able to. I would want to be your friend again, only if that’s what you want”

Ikuya didn’t know what he wanted, but he didn’t want Hiyori to leave yet. He finally took a seat on the bed, wanting to test how it felt like to sit a little closer than usual.

“I do want that.. I still have some trouble trusting you, when you just ignored me for years. I don’t know how to feel about your explanation, but I guess you haven’t had it so easy in life either. But you _were_ my best friend at that time and meant a lot to me.” Ikuya was so emotionally tired at this point and just wanted to drop the topic.

“I’m.. really grateful that you even talked to me. I’ve been an idiot and you have always meant a lot to me too, so.. thank you.” Hiyori smiled for the first time that night, and in Ikuya’s tired state it made his heart miss a beat.

The rest of the evening, they chatted about micellaneous topics. Ikuya didn't want to ask about Hiyori's life yet, not knowing if he wanted to hear it yet.

Ikuya talked a bit about his lige, though. He told Hiyori about the summer he and Natsuya had spent in the US with their dad and how he had continued swimming and about all his achievements in it. He didn’t tell about his anxiety and loneliness, because he _knew_ how Hiyori’d react to it. He also left untold one of the biggest revelations of his teen years, coming out to his famil, but that was, because he _didn't_ know how Hiyori’d react to it.

Mostly Hiyori just kept asking things about Ikuya’s life. Ikuya noticed the same pattern he had seen when they were still small children, but decided to not mention it.

Even if Ikuya was still questioning if Hiyori was being completely honest with him or not, he could believe that Hiyori would never purposely hurt Ikuya. Seeing Hiyori even reminded him why they had been such great friends. Being with Hiyori was always easy and effortless- Hiyori truly listened and cared. Not to mention that they always had fun together, laughed about the same things and had many of the same interests.

They talked for a while, until Ikuya just fell asleep on the bed. Hiyori was afraid he’d wake Ikuya up if he moved, so he laid next to him and closed his own eyes.

\-----

The next morning Ikuya was the first to wake up, a blanket covering him and Hiyori on the bed where they eventually fell asleep together. Natsuya had apparently managed to sneak into the room, and seeing the boys sleeping on Ikuya’s bed, had placed the blanket there.

Ikuya glanced at his friend still sleeping next to him. He couldn’t stop the warmth that spread in his chest at the sight, while the presence of anxiety and doubt still lingered.

Sleeping, Hiyori still looks just as young and boyish as those 5 years ago. He had waited for so long and wished to see Hiyori so many times, that he was undoubtedly afraid of losing him again. He didn’t know how much time he’d have with Hiyori and he didn’t want to waste it, he had learned that much. So, he concealed the doubt and uncertainty away for now, and got up the bed.

His father was already making breakfast, dressed in his work clothes as Ikuya came downstairs. He walked quietly to get some toast and water.

“Oh, morning, Ikuya. I’m making some pancakes, so we can eat them in a moment.” Ikuya decided to eat those instead and went to wait at the table, pulling out his phone.

“Hey, I just wanted to make sure that everything’s okay with you.. and, you know, between you and Hiyori.” His father glanced back at Ikuya’s sleepy figure, who didn’t answer at first.

“..I just want you to know that, even though I think it was the right thing to do to help Hiyori and I have nothing against the boy, if you only tell me, I can go explain to him that you want him to leave after breakfast. It’s up to you.” He gave Ikuya a warm smile and turned back to the pan. Ikuya could tell that his father remembered very well how many summers Ikuya kept looking for Hiyori, trying to find his contact information, waiting for him at the beach. It never resulted in anything else than a very upset and gradually withdrawing Ikuya.

“It’s fine.” He eventually said. He doesn’t tell his father that he was also relieved to see Hiyori again. It wasn’t something he’d easily admitted or shared with other anymore. Maybe with Hiyori in the past, but well..

The conversation was disrupted from continuing when the loud voice of Natsuya reached the kitchen. He soon emerged into the kitchen with a embarrassed Hiyori behind him, who was dressed in his now-dry clothes.

“You woke up our guest, Natsuya?” Their dad teased.

“The sheer volume of his voice could wake anyone up.” Ikuya said.

Natsuya acted offended like usually when they bickered, and it gave Ikuya a good excuse to focus his attention on his brother and the plate of pancakes placed on the table, instead of Hiyori.

They ate in awkward silence, their dad and Natsuya initiating topics and asking Hiyori light questions about his life now. Ikuya was not sure if he wanted to close his ears or wished to be the only one hearing those answers.

When their father eventually left for work, Hiyori also stood up from the table and told the remaining Kirishimas that he should get going.

Hiyori swiftly left to put his shoes on.

“Where are you going to go? To your parents?” Ikuya clearly frightened Hiyori when he followed the boy to the door.

“Umm.. I guess I’ll go home in the evening, I want to think about stuff a bit more and make sure everything at home would be properly settled before I go back. I’ll just look around the town or something to get my mind off of it.” He continued tying his sneakers, not looking up from the action.

“Do you.. do you want to hang out?”

Ikuya felt his face warming up, but Hiyori only offered him a shocked look, followed by a sad smile.

“Sure.”

\-----

They decided to literally hang around, just walking idly without a destination through the small sea-side town. After a prolonged silence, Ikuya started carefully chatting about easy topics, more than anything to just lift the awkward atmosphere around them.

As they started chatting and neared the town center after half an hour of walking, Ikuya felt less tense already and he noticed that Hiyori too seemed to smile more, even giggling when Ikuya tried joking. Nevertheless, Hiyori’s smile still held the same sadness and insecurity that he had seen the night before.

They reached the town square that was surrounded with traditional houses, small convenience stores and shops. To their surprise the square was also buzzing with life and people coming to see the market that was in town that day.

“You wanna go look closer?” Ikuya asked when Hiyori was clearly admiring the place and all its little stands. The air smelled of fresh meat and vegetables, a music was heard somewhere on the other side of the square and the stands were colorful with handicrafts, jewellery and sweets.

“If you don’t mind.” Hiyori soon answered and Ikuya started leading them to the heart of the square.

Hiyori kept looking closely at everything he saw, especially interested in the food and colors of the market. He looked like he wanted to ask so many things, but always moved on without voicing his questions. Ikuya wanted to ask what he was thinking, looking so mesmerized by a normal market. It _was_ especially pretty that day and the weather favored them too, though.

Once Hiyori seemed to have checked everything he wanted, Ikuya still making small talk while Hiyori admired the sights, they came to a stand that sold second-hand books, magazines and paperbacks. It smelled like an old bookstore and Hiyori couldn’t take his eyes off of the colorful covers.

Ikuya was right all those years ago when he had guessed that Hiyori must really like books.

He watched further from afar as Hiyori tried to go through apparently every single book, browsing through all genres and periods. Ikuya would have really wanted to learn what kind of books Hiyori liked, but it would have been too personal to ask and too embarrassing to interrupt him right now. So, he just followed Hiyori through the stand.

At one point Hiyori had stopped, holding an old-looking hard-covered book with some sort of sea elements on the cover. He seemed to be increasingly interested in it, not putting it down like all the previous ones. Ikuya got curious too and stepped closer to the boy to see.

He was surprised when he saw which book Hiyori had found.

“ _The Little Mermaid._ I used to love that book as a kid.” Ikuya smiled. The book was an older version than he had had, the blue sea and golden mermaid in the cover even more beautiful than in his version.

“Oh?” Hiyori sounded surprised and interested, so Ikuya decided to pry a little more.

“Have you ever read it?”

“No, I haven’t..” Hiyori’s brows furrowed as he dragged his fingers on the mermaid on the cover. “What’s it about?” He finally turned to Ikuya, curious and hopeful. Ikuya got excited too.

“It’s a tragic story about a mermaid that falls in love with a human prince. She gives everything she has to stay with this prince and learn a new life on earth, but the prince doesn’t choose her and she turns into foam, losing everything in the end.” Ikuya knew the story was tragic, but Hiyori looked at him devastated.

Before Ikuya could say anything else, Hiyori lowered the book back to the table, like he didn’t want anything to do with it. _Maybe Hiyori wasn’t one to like sad endings,_ Ikuya thought _._

“But to me the story was always about freedom, when I was a kid. You can’t have everything you want in life, but you have to stay true to the things you really want and fight for them. It’s sad but somehow beautiful.” Ikuya added.

Hiyori’s face lost its tenseness and he looked relieved, when he met Ikuya’s eyes.

“Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.” He whispered and Ikuya nodded to him.

They continued the tour around the small town. When they had to part the sun was already beginning to set.

“I guess I should go home now. I can’t run away forever.” Hiyori smiled. They were almost back at Ikuya’s house, walking through the silent streets in sunset.

“Yeah, I believe you can solve things. But the offer still stands, and we will help you if you ever need anything.”

Hiyori eyes lit up just a little.

“So, do you wanna hang out tomorrow too?” Ikuya added quickly, when he started feeling too warm under Hiyori’s gaze.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

“Okay, Ikuya. I’ll see you at the beach tomorrow at noon?” Hiyori started backing away, turning toward a street on the right that lead to the beach.

“Okay.”

\-----

They met again the next day like they had agreed to. Just like the previous day, they spent their time together strolling through the neighborhoods, walking on the beach, getting some lunch and most importantly, asking and finally daring to catch up and learn more about each other as the 15-year old Ikuya and Hiyori.

Ikuya felt now relaxed and calm being with Hiyori. The silences were awkward and he could say that it was hard to trust Hiyori at times, but he still felt more comfortable than with many people. He had learned that nothing special had happened to Hiyori during the years, he had done very well in school and studied a lot.

“You don’t have any school activities? I bet you’d be a really good swimmer, what I’ve seen.” Ikuya contemplated.

“Well, not really. I have to do a lot of things at my house when my parents are away and I like to spend the rest of my time studying.”

“What about your friends?” What Ikuya heard make him confused. He had expected Hiyori to have such an exciting life that it had been easy to ignore Ikuya. What Hiyori was saying, didn’t sound right.

“I have a few friends at school that are in the book club, but it’s enough for me to see them at school. I guess I like to spend time on my own.”

“I see.” Ikuya sank to his thoughts. It seemed like Hiyori wasn’t living his best life either. _That might have influenced Hiyori's decision not to contact him_. Hiyori seemed kind of sad at times, even lonely. It was hard to see, because it reminded Ikuya of himself.

“I guess you have kind of a complicated relationship with your family.” Ikuya tried to start the same conversation again, still feeling that Hiyori was hiding something about the situation.

“A bit.”

“I’d like to hear about it sometime.” Ikuya added after Hiyori went silent.

“Someday.” He smiled back.

They were now nearing the end of the town, seeing a steep hill in front of them, leading up to a shrine. Instead of beginning to climb up the stairs, Ikuya took a few steps and sat down on them. Hiyori followed his lead and sat next to him. The sun was still shining and lit up the woods surrounding them.

“What did you do during the summers?” It felt almost painful to ask Hiyori about it.

“Honestly, nothing much. I studied a lot, trained and stuff. But that’s it. I was alone at home most of the time.” Ikuya could see a bit of guilt in Hiyori. “Did you wait for me?” Hiyori continued quietly.

“I did. The first summers at least. But then I spent a few summers in America with Natsuya and dad.”

“Oh? Why were you there?” Hiyori looked surprised.

“Dad got a job there for a while, so during the summer we could go see him. We swam the whole summer there, training and competing with Natsuya. Though, the pools were nothing compared to the sea here.” Ikuya smiled at the memory.

“That sounds amazing. You didn’t mention this before.” Well, there was a reason that Ikuya kept their trips to America secret. Until now.

“Something happened while we were there, two years ago, so it’s hard to talk about it. I almost drowned in the pool and had to spend a few weeks in the hospital.”

“Ikuya, what?” Hiyori’s eyes widened and he spoke breathlessly.

“Apparently it was because of stress and other factors. They diagnosed me with an anxiety disorder too, things haven’t always been so great after that.” He didn’t know why it was easy to say these things out loud to Hiyori, when he had trouble talking about them even to his family.

“Then my grades dropped and I tried to compensate the feelings with training. I burned out once and almost a second time this year. I’m just a bit lost.” The sentence seemed far too familiar, even though it was already 7 years when he first heard it from the mouth of a crying, scared Hiyori.

“Why didn’t you tell me this?” Hiyori looked nervous, almost angry. Ikuya could understand his worry, but then again..

“What do you mean ‘why didn’t I tell you’? Not like I had any way to contact you, or even knew if you wanted to ever see me. And I don’t really go telling my personal stuff to people I haven’t seen in years.” Hiyori’s worry only made Ikuya frustrated. It was too little, too late.

“But you could have..” Hiyori didn’t want to say the last word. Didn’t want to admit that Ikuya’s most precious hobby had almost taken his life. “If the worst had happened, I would have never even heard about it?” Hiyori raised his voice, but it was distressed now, not angry. _Ikuya_ was angry.

“Then you should have thought that when you forgot about me!” He turned his whole body to face Hiyori. Hearing Hiyori say something like that, like he _owed_ Hiyori something, made him boil.

“I bet you didn’t even think how _I_ would feel when you decided to ignore me! I can see that there’s something you’re not telling me! You’re a complete mystery to me and frankly, you’re very unfair, Hiyori. You came to me finally when you needed help but were never there when I would have needed _you_.”

“That’s.. you’re right.” Hiyori squeezed his jeans in his palms. “I didn’t think you’d remember me anymore. I thought you’d just find better friends and eventually forget me. I always thought that would happen at some point, so I didn’t want to wait that long and did it myself. But I've been regretting it ever since I decided it. I’m sorry.”

“I wish you would’ve asked me. Because I would’ve told you very different.” Ikuya lifted his legs up and hugged them in his arms. “I still want to know what this is about. Can you tell me anything, Hiyori? Why can’t I ever come to your house, meet your parents, even contact you? Why do you suddenly leave every year? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“I can’t tell you anything that I haven’t already. I have to respect what is expected of me.”

“That makes it very hard for me to trust you again.” Ikuya hugged his knees harder.

“I understand.”

The silence stretched for a while, until Ikuya sighed and got up from the stairs. “Let’s go,” he decided. The walk back was even more awkward now that Ikuya was in a very bad mood.

They were at the front of Ikuya’s house when they had to part ways. There was a deafening silence between them, but even after being disappointed by Hiyori again, he could tell that it was only because he wished they could be closer to his friend.

“See you tomorrow?” Ikuya asked finally, still pouting hard.

“You don’t have to, Ikuya.” Hiyori was also frowning.

“I want to. So, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He walked inside and slammed the door a bit harder than he needed to.

It was hard to sleep that night. Ikuya kept thinking about what made Hiyori act like this, what he could’ve done better, but only ended up with more questions.

He wanted to help and support Hiyori and he felt like Hiyori would reciprocate that. But he worried whether they could ever have a normal friendship if it was based on secrets. That’s why he had wanted to open up to Hiyori about his problems and past, but it went all wrong.

Ikuya barely slept, waking up every few hours.

When the clock was 6 in the morning, and he woke up for the 5th time that night, he decided to just go release his energy in something else and started putting on his jogging clothes. Since he had become used to a very strict training schedule, the time didn’t seem too odd to him. At least there were basically no other people out at that time.

He headed straight towards the beach, jogging along to the small boulevard that followed the beach line. 

After running for a few minutes on the shore, he was caught off guard with something glistening in the water, close to the pier. The pier where he and Hiyori usually spent their time jumping into the water and sitting to admire the sunsets.

He didn’t pay much attention to the movement at first. It was common that fish and larger creatures were more active in the morning, splashing in the shallow waters, but something was reflecting the rising sun brightly and it wasn’t the surface of the water.

He stopped on the road to inspect the movement when a figure unexpectantly pulled itself up from the sea and onto the pier.

It was definitely a man, but he immediately doubted his eyes when the male’s lower body was missing legs and was covered by emerald-green scales and a tail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens!
> 
> I absolutely love some of the scenes in this chapter and I had so much fun writing this terrible, terrible angst ;) You'll be seeing see a lot more of it!!  
> This chapter is a bit longer, but I wanted them to have many conversations and now I finally got to this cliffhanger! Now we can start the real story lolll
> 
> I'm so grateful for everyone still reading and hopefully I have managed to maintain your interest, since I'm so excited about the next chapters!  
> Thank you for everyone just reading this and leaving kudos! I really appreciate feedback too or if you just wanna talk about these two dorks <3


	5. 15 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The creature sat on the pier, looking to the sea, basking in the morning sun and flapping his green tail. The tail shined with colors of blue and turquoise as the light hit it.
> 
> But Ikuya swore he had seen those same back muscles, broad shoulders and a head of brown hair before.

Ikuya almost literally rubbed his eyes to see if the boy, creature, _thing_ would disappear.

The creature sat on the pier, looking to the sea, basking in the morning sun and flapping his green tail. The tail shined with colors of blue and turquoise as the light hit it.

But Ikuya _swore_ he had seen those same back muscles, broad shoulders and a head of brown hair before. He silently but swiftly walked across the sand and to the pier.

“Excuse me?” Ikuya felt stupid, but he had never had to prepare himself for meeting _an actual merman_ (or a really talented special effects artist).

The creature turned to the voice in panic, only to immediately jump back into the water and try to escape.

But Ikuya had recognized those brown eyes and face features already.

“HIYORI??!!” Ikuya’s voice cracked, because it was still 6am and he was sure he was having a dream. Hiyori was already in the water and Ikuya had to stop him, whatever it took. He felt like he’d otherwise never again see the boy that would disappear into the sea.

“WAIT, WAIT, Hiyori! Please!!” He was extending his hand, like it could reach the boy in the water and luckily, it made Hiyori stop and slowly turn back to him.

“I’m so sorry, you were never supposed to see this!” He waved his hands in front of him and rambled on. “You have to forget this! How can I be this careless when they-”

“Hiyori,” Ikuya raised his voice to silence him, but continued in utter disbelief. “What is this?”

“Nothing! I shouldn’t tell you anything, this is so bad..” he started mumbling again.

Ikuya only smiled lopsidedly at him, at the absurdity of the situation.

“Hey hey, everything’s fine.” He assured with a serious tone. “Can you come up?”

He offered his hand to help and together they lifted Hiyori back to the pier, weighing twice as much now. He sat on the pier, the whole tail up from the sea and trickling with water. Ikuya crouched next to him and stared at the sight.

“Do you mean this is real?” Ikuya couldn’t decide whether to look at Hiyori’s face or.. _lower body_?

“It is..” Hiyori answered quietly, fiddling with his fingers anxiously.

“That’s.. incredible..” Ikuya gasped without thinking. Hiyori turned immediately to look at his friend, stunned by the claim. “I mean.. you’re.. amazing, you _look_.. unreal! You’re a real…merman?” He wasn’t sure how to even approach the conversation, really. He knew the realization would hit him later, but now he was like a small boy again, having solved a mystery or found a treasure.

“Well, yeah.. something like that..”

“This is.. unbelievable to say the least.” He wasn’t sure what he was saying as all his attention was drawn to the boy. “You’ve always been like this? Before we met?”

“Yes,” Hiyori nodded. He still wasn’t looking happy but incredibly uncomfortable. “I’m not a human, Ikuya. I’ve always belonged to my people, the merpeople, and that’s the reason for everything I’ve had to put you through. I’m sorry, I wasn’t allowed to tell you.”

Ikuya frowned at that. Yes, he had been right that Hiyori was hiding something and it hurt that Hiyori hadn’t told this before. Not after Ikuya had already been hurt and forgotten. But this wasn’t exactly something Ikuya had the right to be mad about. They didn’t have the same lives, they were completely different and Ikuya wouldn’t have tried to interfere in it if he had known. He can be mad at Hiyori, though, for handling Ikuya’s feelings poorly, but right now he wasn’t mad.

So, what.. you get to swim all day and breath underwater and explore the sea?” He grinned, not answering Hiyori’s apology.

“There’s a lot more to it than that.” Hiyori pouted at him. “But I guess that’s what the stereotype is..”

“That’s.. wow..” Ikuya couldn’t help the smile on his face and tried to hide it behind his hand.

“I.. thought you’d be frightened or disgusted or think I’m a freak.. I couldn’t tell you about this for, I hope, obvious reasons, but I was also scared of your reaction. That if you found out, that would finally be the end for us.”

Ikuya thought about the fact, and concluded that he probably would have always been excited to meet a mermaid or a merman, never would have pushed Hiyori away for it. But he hadn’t anticipated that he’d become so close to someone that lived in a whole different world, and it changed how he saw the situation. Among the child-like excitement was also longing and sadness for what it meant that they’d forever be separated by the fact that they were a human and a merman.

“I understand now that you weren’t allowed to tell me, but.. I feel like you’re a completely different person now, someone I don’t even think I recognize.” Hiyori frowned next to him. “But I want to get to know this Hiyori better, _the real you,_ and I want to hear about this part of your life.” Hiyori gave him a soft smile.

“This is .. a huge secret to keep, that I was never allowed, and am still not allowed, to tell to any human. But I’ve never pretended to be anything else than myself to you, even if I’m from a whole different world than you.”

Ikuya observed his friend closely. He was the same Hiyori, he could tell.

“Could you tell me about it?” Ikuya kept smiling. He knew that Hiyori was only trying to make the best out of the situation, not trying to hurt or leave Ikuya because of it.

“Umm.. well, basically there is a whole society underwater of our people. We are genetically still related to humans a lot so we have the ability to change into a human form. Still, there’s a lot of controversy whether or not we should really interact with humans but telling humans about us is strictly forbitten. I think everyone’s just scared of the world on earth and that’s why these prejudices still exist.” He talked quietly but wanted Ikuya to understand his people. They weren’t bad or even that different, just scared of everything new.

“So, starting when we’re eight, we go to school to learn about our world, but also the abilities of humans, like learning to walk with feet, human anatomy and cultures. When we’re eight we can also become humans for a week every year to explore the human world and see that side of our history.”

“That’s why I only see you for one week every year.” Ikuya tried to take all the new information in. “but you always spend the whole week with me.. You don’t meet anyone else or want to see more?”

“I don’t mind. The best way to use my time on earth is to spend it with you..” He swallowed. “The first time we met was the first time that I ever was here on earth. It made me realize.. how alone I was in this big world I knew nothing about.. I was so excited about it, because I was always so intrigued by people but I felt so scared.”

“I understand that.. all alone in a whole new situation, far from your home..” Ikuya thought of the first night when he slept at his dad’s house in Shionezaki, crying for him to take Ikuya back home in Tokyo, even though his dad’s place was also his home.

“Yeah.. And my parents are very old-fashioned doctors and they find it shameful for our family that I come here and meet humans, like you. They’re afraid that I’d might change me. They have never liked that I visit you, even though they know how much coming here means to me. It makes them think I don’t appreciate our society either.. even though it’s not true. I care about both worlds just as much, which makes me not belong in either of them.” Hiyori lowered his head self-consciously.

“They tried to talk me out of coming to the surface at all and I probably would have never returned.. if I hadn’t met you.” Ikuya felt a blush warm his face. “Your friendship makes me feel like I could belong here and that I’m not so different from humans. It’s the only reason I haven’t given up yet.” Hiyori smiled a bit more bravely.

“I hope I can now be more open to you and not hide anything. I promise you I will try even harder to be a good friend, because it’s all I ever wanted. I didn’t ever plan on this happening, but I’m glad it did.”

“I’m really glad too.”

Ikuya kept asking more and more, so intrigued by all the information about Hiyori’s family, school, merman anatomy and other stuff, and Hiyori answered everything as best as he could. Now, Ikuya was finally getting his answers and it felt like it was all he had ever wanted.

“How does turning into a human even work? Like, you have clothes somewhere or..?”

“Well, I can basically do it whenever I want to by just thinking about it. But only during that one week a year is it allowed and also doesn’t have any—consequences. I’ve heard that you can have withdrawal symptoms if you turn into your other form when you’re not supposed to. It’s only for emergenicies, so that we won’t get caught. You can apply for a permission to come on earth, some merpeople have relatives on land that they visit, but my family doesn’t.”

“Oh, you can choose to live here?” Ikuya asked, sounding hopeful without meaning to. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about Hiyori’s future.

“Y-Yeah.. If you want to. But that means you can never change back into your merman form again..” Ikuya wanted to pry more, but decided against it, when Hiyori quieted after it.

“Our clothes just basically appear on us, we don’t really have to buy human clothes, but we also can’t really choose what to wear, it’s automatic and my merman powers just make clothes that we would need, just like I would need my glasses here on earth but not underwater..” Hiyori continued to explain.

After what seemed to be more than an hour of questions, the sun was already up and illuminating the surface of the sea. Hiyori was almost completely dry too, his tail still glistening in the sun. Ikuya kept surveying the scales and Hiyori noticed how much his tail interested Ikuya.

“Umm.. Would you mind me touching?” Hiyori threw his head to the direction of the question and blsuhed bright red. “I-I mean, I assume they’re like legs to you? But if it’s uncomfortable, I doesn’t really matter.” Ikuya tried to save himself from the embarrassment creeping up his face too, warming his cheeks.

“No, it’s fine. I was just surprised.” Hiyori smiled at him.

The scales felt soft but so smooth under Ikuya’s fingertips. He smiled back to Hiyori with a bright grin to show that everything was still fine.

Because everything truly seemed more fine than for a long time in Ikuya’s life.

\------

When he met Hiyori later that day, seeing Hiyori with his human legs and normal human clothes, he couldn’t help smiling. The situation was unbelievable, but after everything, the same Hiyori was still standing in front of him. He hadn’t lost anything, only gained. He felt that there was barely any walls or awkwardness between them anymore, and more than anything Ikuya was happy that everything seemed to return to normal between them. As normal as they could be.

They continued spending time with each other, learning more and more about each other in the process. Ikuya couldn’t help teasing Hiyori about all the human things, asking if he knew how to use the oven, tie his shoes or what animals he could name.

“I’ve done my studying, Ikuya,” he always answered playfully.

But even if Hiyori might have knowledge about human things in theory, it seemed he had little experience with some normal things, and Ikuya could already list all the things he wanted to introduce Hiyori to.

There was at least one idea, that he couldn’t let go when he came up with it. Something he could really wow Hiyori with.

He took Hiyori to the city library.

It was an old wooden building in the town centre and he knew it had tall walls and four floors filled with book shelves and probably the most books Hiyori had seen in his life. Ikuya remembered how intrigued Hiyori had been about reading, studying and the book stand at the market, so it was a fair guess.

He hadn’t told Hiyori where they were going, but then he opened the front door of the library, which opened up to a study hall and beyond it a big collection of works that the sunlight was warming through the windows.

Ikuya came there just to see Hiyori’s reaction though, and it was worth it.

The boy beside him was gaping in awe at the scene.

“Is.. Are we.. Is this a library?” He could finally generate the words. Ikuya had heard Hiyori talk about libraries, so he knew the concept, but Ikuya was even prouder of himself for being the first to take Hiyori to one.

“Yes. You wanna go look closer?” Before Ikuya could even finish the question, Hiyori was pacing to the shelves and started observing them closely.

Ikuya took a seat in one of the tables near a corner and very soon Hiyori started collecting books to the table. Sometimes he started browsing through the books on the table, still standing up and Ikuya had to remind him to sit down first.

When Hiyori had gone through all the genres, he finally sat down. He had a pile of books and they sat at that table for several hours. Ikuya was browsing through his phone most of the time, occasionally attracting Hiyori’s attention to ask about the books he was reading. Hiyori smiled the brightest smile Ikuya had probably ever seen, when he explained about them.

“What kind of books do you like?” Ikuya asked at some point. He had wanted to know before, but now he might get a more honest answer than those years ago.

“Well, what I’ve learned of the human literature, I prefer realism and stories about humans and people. Your literature is pretty different to the knowledge and fiction the merpeople produce. Today, I’ve been just trying to look through all kinds of books, really wanting to get to know the classics. I’m also very intrigued by the non-fiction books about the world and humans. I always want to learn more.” Yep, this sounded honest to Ikuya.

He had to drag Hiyori out of the building when the closing time came.

\------

The week came closer to ending, and it felt irrational to Ikuya that during just a few days he had been reunited with Hiyori, learned a life-changing secret about the same boy and got to know his best friend all over again, in a whole new, more healthy and open way.

He still couldn’t help worrying how their friendship would continue after Hiyori had to leave.

On the last evening they chose to spend it on the beach. The afternoon sun was beginning to disappear behind clouds now that the two boys had packed all the stuff they had brought with them- lunch, books for Hiyori and some swimming gear for Ikuya. That was basically the summary of their day.

They got off the sand where they had sat and Ikuya turned to the sea. It was his safe place but was now about to take away his best friend again. _How ironic_.

He still had so many things he wanted to say, some more relevant that came out of his logical mind, while some were more.. intimate, stuff that his heart was screaming to voice.

“Hiyori.” They both knew that Hiyori would leave soon. “I-I’m not saying I don’t trust you, but.. I find it very difficult to think I’d have to wait an entire year to hear anything from you like the years before. I mean.. I would want to know if something happened to you, but I also just want to hear how you’re doing.” _I don’t want to wait,_ he thought.

“What are you trying to say?” Hiyori smirked. He must have been amused, seeing Ikuya so embarrassed, which he honestly was.

“Is there any way we could contact each other during the year? Just once a month or something.. Don’t you have a seagull friend or something that could bring letters to me?”

“Firstly, we’re not in a fairytale. Secondly, I’ve been thinking of the same thing. I wanted to suggest it too, if it had been alright with you. I want to keep in touch too.”

Ikuya felt relieved.

“There is a way that might work, but there are some problems with it. The merpeople community is quite tightly invested in the human world too, we have our own ways to move between these worlds without no one noticing. That includes a kind of postal service. Merpeople can send letters and messages through the post, because we have our own people inside it too. It just means I’ll tell the post a message I want to send and they’ll deliver it in a letter. The problem is you can’t send anything back, and because I’m still underage, I need my parents’ permission. They’ll become suspicious and won’t like it but maybe I can convince them somehow.”

“You think that’d be possible?”

“I think so.” He smiled.

“Okay. I want a letter at least once a month. I want you to tell me how you’re doing and how school is going. Not just some random things, I want to hear about _you._ ” Ikuya demanded.

Hiyori stared for a while until he burst out laughing. “I see you’re taking this very seriously.”

It made Ikuya’s chest feel warm, seeing Hiyori so comfortable and happy with him.

“I’m dead serious. I won’t let you run away again.” He grinned at Hiyori, who blushed, still giggling.

When Hiyori left, he carefully made to hug Ikuya, who returned it with a long, warm embrace. Hiyori managed to lie to his parents that Ikuya was suspecting his weird behavior and the way to keep him unsuspicious was to send him letters once in a while. He started thinking of the first letter he wanted to write on the same night.

Hiyori felt so happy. He would have to endure a year to see Ikuya again but couldn’t believe he still had the amazing boy in his life again . Although he already knew that the time was running out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting to the good stuff! And a day late this week smh
> 
> So, yeah this has been a mermaid AU all along, if you didn't already know lol!! I have so many things prepared, so this is only the start of all the fluff and angst I'll present to you later ;;))
> 
> I have tried to think of all the crucial details I need to tell you about the mermaid world, but tell me if something is not explained well in this chapter :V I don't want to describe Hiyori's world a lot, because I want to focus on Ikuya's and Hiyori's relationship and their life on earth :) Hope it's not too confusing tho!
> 
> I hope people still stay along and keep reading this, though I would publish the fic anyway because I want to finish the story :))  
> Comments and kudos are very appreciated! <3


	6. 16 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ikuya receives letters from Hiyori and realizes the what he wants to answer to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the chapter is a bit late this week!
> 
> Enjoy<3

_Hey Ikuya,_

_School just started again. It’s nice to have something to do during the days now. I decided to do something different this year, try new things, you know. I just feel like it will make time move faster!_

_I was thinking of starting training and stuff. Maybe I could.._

The letter Hiyori sent every month were simple and formal, focusing on his school and life, but each one made Ikuya’s heart flutter. He was over the moon to be able to keep in contact with Hiyori, be a more stable part of his life.

While most of the letters were the same, a few stood out during the year.

The first was when Hiyori had finally found time to join the literature club in his school.

_I’m really excited for this! I haven’t had time to do many things I enjoy beside school work, so I can’t wait. I just wanted to tell you too, Ikuya._

It had made Ikuya incredibly proud of him, but sad that he couldn’t actually share the feeling with Hiyori, at least not yet. He would have wanted see Hiyori’s enthusiasm, hear his excited voice and observe dark eyes shining, but the letter left him feeling.. jealous almost. But the feeling passed when he received the next letter.

_I had a fight with my parents last week. We haven’t really talked much after that, but it’s fine. They said that they’d notice how the literature club makes me less interested in my studies and told me to leave the club. I know they're not right, but maybe I don’t just see it?_

_But they also don’t understand how important it is to have things that are just for me. Just like talking to you. They seem very upset that I’ve become so close to you and have asked me to stop the letters. Don’t worry, I’ll send them as long as I can, but it makes me feel a bit powerless and sad. I don’t know why I’m telling you, but I hope it helps and I won’t make you worry too much. I’m alright._

It was unfair. He wanted to know what Hiyori was doing, but letters like this made him feel hopeless. He couldn’t do anything for Hiyori so far away from him.

After Hiyori settled things with his parents and the spring started to change into summer, the letters changed too, more hopeful again and gentler, in some way.

_I’m already waiting for summer. I still have some exams but I can’t help thinking about.. well, you._

_I know I was insecure about myself when we met again last year, but.. I’m so glad we did. And for you to give me a second chance._

The letters ended with the same sentence each time: _I miss you a lot._

After months of waiting and reading letters, he and Natsuya finally packed for Shionezaki again, waiving their mom goodbye as they got onto a bus, only two days until Hiyori’d be back.

On the morning of, Ikuya woke up as early as possible and left for the beach to wait for him. He obviously couldn’t wait to see his best friend, but he also didn't want to miss the chance of seeing Hiyori’s merman form, if only briefly.

He sat down to wait on the pier as the sun was starting to rise.

After half an hour, just when he started having trouble staying awake, a distant splashing of water caught his attention and he looked out on the sea, recognizing the figure that was getting closer to the shore.

He walked over to the end of the pier just when the figure pulled itself up from the water. When Hiyori looked up, Ikuya was standing over him, looking straight into his eyes and barely containing a wide smile. Hiyori looked surprised but there was a glint of relief that Ikuya could detect.

Ikuya felt relief too. This year, the wait had felt even longer. Receiving letters that he couldn’t respond to, made him feel like a ghost in Hiyori’s life, he could see and hear what was happening but couldn’t answer, feel or touch.

As he had only dreamt and fantasized of being a visible part of Hiyori’s life again, he had noticed how much he had needed it. The letters, the distance that they had to keep would never be enough anymore.

He wanted to hold him, feel that Hiyori was still real. And finally give his answer to all the words Hiyori had given him during the year.

“Ikuya?” Before Ikuya noticed that he had been spacing out, Hiyori had turned into his human form, a dark-blue button-up, light pants and the characteristic, black-rimmed glasses on his face. His hair was still wet, though.

Ikuya pulled him close and swung his arms around the taller boy. Hands tightly around Hiyori’s neck, he closed his eyes to focus on the feeling and the thoughts in his head. _Yes, he was making the right choice._

Hiyori carefully wrapped his hand on Ikuya’s back, when Ikuya suddenly backed away, hands now on Hiyori’s shoulders.

“I missed you too.” He managed to say before he pushed himself up, cupped the boy’s neck and planted a soft kiss right on Hiyori’s parted lips.

He backed away as soon as he had done it. _Kissed_ Hiyori.

Ikuya felt more nervous than ever. He had never been good with words, so _this_ had been the answer he wanted to give Hiyori for a long time already. Probably from the moment Hiyori came back into his life. He was now only waiting for Hiyori’s answer to it.

His friend quickly turned bright red and covered his face behind his palms.

“I-Ikuya! What was that?!” _Okay, no rejection yet?_ Ikuya let the smile finally fully rise to his face. Hiyori was _so cute._

“It’s called a _kiss._ Have you water-people ever heard of that?” Ikuya teased. Hiyori only reddened further.

“Of course, we have! We study humans very carefully, but that’s not the point! Why would you k-kiss _me_?”

“Because I wanted to.” Ikuya kept smiling but turned it into something softer. “Would you have wanted to?”

Hiyori fixed his glasses that had slipped on his face. “Merpeople do have different kind of displays of affection, kissing is one of them. But if I’m correct, here on earth it is also considered something more than a friendly gesture, right?” Hiyori questioned, brows slightly furrowed. He was biting down onto his lower lips, like trying to taste the feeling the kiss had left.

Ikuya nodded at the question.

“R-Right.. In that case, I would have wanted you to kiss me. I was just surprised and well.. didn’t know what you thought of it..”

Ikuya could tell that Hiyori was actively trying to make sense of the situation, but all Ikuya heard was that Hiyori had liked it too.

“Wanna try it again?” he interrupted, a smirk back on his face.

Hiyori tensed and flushed all over again, until the reaction softened into a pinkish blush and a sweet smile “Yeah.. if that’s fine..”

The second time was longer and slower. Ikuya slowly closed the gap between them and pressed his whole body to Hiyori’s. He experimentally swiped his tongue across Hiyori’s lips which tasted salty from the sea water. Hiyori tensed under his lips, but was smiling warmly when Ikuya opened his eyes again, only centimeters away from Hiyori’s face.

“I waited so long to see you.” Ikuya almost whispered. “We have a week, right?” He asked and Hiyori nodded. “Then, let’s go. I wanna spend the whole time with you.”

\------

Hiyori let himself be dragged out of the beach and into Ikuya’s family’s house. It was almost eight in the morning and the rest of the family were having breakfast, greeting the boys warmly when they came in.

They didn’t question what Hiyori was doing there, nor the fact that Ikuya was still holding onto Hiyori’s wrist when they walked away and towards Ikuya’s room.

Hiyori was happy to see Ikuya's family again; Hiyori had known Ikuya’s dad and brother half his life and considered them almost a second family to him.

It had been a huge relief for Hiyori to be able to send Ikuya the letters. It made him feel less alone, he knew Ikuya was thinking of him back in Tokyo, or at least reading his thoughts from the letters.

But because he never could get an answer back, he wouldn’t have been surprised if Ikuya hadn’t liked the letters he wrote or had ignored them. He had only hoped that he’d see Ikuya again, when he swam back to the shore that morning.

But Ikuya _had_ waited for him and it made something in his heart fall into place. He had been scared of losing his friend, but had still willed himself to dream all this time. He had dreamt of sharing everything with Ikuya, holding the boy close and listening to what Ikuya wanted to say to him. Sometimes the dream slipped too far, seeing a future on earth with Ikuya, but he had shaken those thoughts away as soon as he could. _It wasn’t realistic._

But when Ikuya had kissed him, basically telling him he had the same kind of dream.. _Maybe Hiyori wouldn’t consider it so unbelievable after all._

They got into Ikuya’s room and sat on his bed, Hiyori waiting to find out why Ikuya had brought him there. The answer came to him, when Ikuya pulled a stack of paper out of his bag.

“Are those my letters?” Hiyori asked stunned.

“Yes. And now I want to respond to them and hear all the things you were writing about.”

Hiyori’s heart squeezed in his chest.

“I’ll tell you everything you want, only if afterwards you’ll tell my all about your year.” He smiled to Ikuya, who quickly pecked Hiyori’s cheek.

“Deal.” Ikuya set down the first letter he had sent and started going through it with Hiyori.

The boys kept going through the letters, talking about all the events of the year together. Ikuya had so many questions, and Hiyori had a hard time remembering all the details about his letters.

After a few hours they went to eat lunch, then continued again in Ikuya’s room. Natsuya had tried to disrupt the two in the kitchen and ask what was going on but decided against it after seeing the two making lunch, glued to each other’s sides.

In the afternoon, they were finally caught up with everything again. Ikuya had ended up lying on the bed, leaning onto Hiyori’s thigh as Hiyori carded his fingers through Ikuya’s soft hair.

“Oh wow, it’s afternoon already? Imagine we have to do this every year!” Ikuya laughed.

“Yeah..” Hiyori smiled to him apologetically but didn’t comment further.

“I have things planned for us, if you don’t mind. We can do whatever you want, though. I don’t really know yet what things about the human-world interest you except books and the sea.”

“You’ve really thought about this?” He asked with a bit of amusement and a lot of wonder.

“Well, yeah. I still consider you my best friend, and I don’t want to waste the time we can actually spend with each other.” Ikuya blushed only a little, but Hiyori didn’t miss it. He never would, anymore.

He lowered his head and placed their foreheads together as he sighed deeply.

“That sounds wonderful, Ikuya.”

\-----

All the things Ikuya had planned for the week, felt very different now.

After what very clearly had been a mutual confession of their feelings, things had been.. different. Away from other people’s eyes, they held hands, cuddled and occasionally shared small, short kisses. In public, they walked a bit too close to each other for it to be platonic. The problem was that they hadn’t actually talked about it.

So, when they visited a shrine and other sites, went to cafes and hiking during the week, there was always a tension between them. It only seems to go away when they got to be close to each other again, to hold hands and sit down with their shoulders touching. Ikuya felt like they were being pulled together like twonpieces of a magnet, the attraction only easing when the two poles finally could touch each other.

They weren’t always alone, though, and even if Ikuya knew that Hiyori liked spending time with Ikuya’s family, he was always a bit bummed out of the distance they had to keep during it.

They arranged a farewell party for Natsuya, who was going to leave to study on a swimming scholarship in America in a few months. Ikuya would have many chances to say goodbye to his boisterous brother, but he couldn’t help feeling happy that Hiyori was included in the party as well. His family cared about his close friend just as much as he did.

They were sitting outside on their backyard, eating barbeque that Ikuya’s father was grilling them, and the on-going stream of questions to Hiyori was starting to upset Ikuya.

Not only because they started asking questions that he knew were too personal for Hiyori.

_“Hiyori, where did you say that lived again?” “What do your parents do?” “What is your school like?”_

Hiyori could vaguely answer them without causing suspicion and Ikuya tried helping him too. They had talked about situations like this and Ikuya knew how important it was to keep Hiyori’s life a secret. He had told his family that Hiyori’s parents were strict and protective and didn’t let Hiyori travel alone anywhere. He could only come and visit Ikuya because they knew each other so well already.

“Have you ever been to America, Hiyori?” Their dad pried.

“No, I haven’t. My family doesn’t travel that much, but I think I have some relatives there somewhere.”

“Oh wow! Ikuya has told about our trips to America, right? I can’t wait for it, though! I get to swim and compete every day while someone else pays for it.” Natsuya grinned, making Hiyori laugh too. “I expect you to keep an eye on Ikuya and take care of him while I’m gone.” Natsuya continued addressing Hiyori, who was fighting back a blush.

“Hiyori can’t come to Tokyo, Aniki, you know that.” He rolled his eyes, like his brother’s words usually made him do. “I don’t need babysitting while you’re gone, anyway.”

“That’s not the kind of ‘taking care of’ that I was talking about.” Natsuya looked at Hiyori and winked, which made Ikuya kick him under the table.

Before they could start another dispute, their father interrupted them. “What future plans do _you_ _have_ , Hiyori? Ikuya’s mentioned you like books and swimming. Are those something you think of as potential careers?”

Ikuya noticed Hiyori flinch at the question and tense his shoulders. But when Hiyori turned to answer his father, he had a smile on his face that was just too twisted for Ikuya to fall for it.

“I haven’t really decided on anything yet, to be honest.” He kept smiling.

“Oh, okay. You haven’t looked into universities in the area yet?” Ikuya’s father was as friendly acould be. These _were_ pretty standard questions for a 16-year old, but Hiyori looked uncomfortable anyway.

Ikuya could guess what it was; Hiyori’s parents had impossibly high standards for Hiyori and Hiyori was clearly still trying to find his own path. Ikuya also remembered how Hiyori had told him that merpeople could choose to live on earth. _Could that have something to do with Hiyori’s uncertainty of his future_ , he wondered.

“It’s a bit complicated. I haven’t talked to my parents about my future a lot yet, so that’s what I have to do first.” Hiyori said, embarrassed.

“But what do _you_ want to do?” Their dad continued. It was a calculated move, if Ikuya knew his father at all.

“Umm..” Hiyori rubbed his neck. Ikuya was carefully inspecting the boy’s expressions and slowly reached to caress Hiyori’s hand under the table. Hopefully it helped.

“I’d want to become a scientist or something, I really like exploring stuff. B-But I don’t really know, I might not even be cut out for something like that.” Hiyori waved his hands in front of him. Ikuya’s mouth turned up too. _That_ sounded like the honest Hiyori.

“You’re smart, Hiyori. Don’t underestimate yourself!” Natsuya laughed.

“And I hope you know you can come visit us any day you want! You’re basically part of the family.” Their dad added, like it was nothing. Hiyori seemed almost moved to tears and Ikuya just laughed and squeezed his hand for a while longer.

\-------

Ikuya knew that Hiyori’d be leaving in a few days again. The thought had been haunting him for the whole week, but he knew there was nothing to be done about it. Hiyori had told him that he couldn’t disobey the rules of his world.

On the last day together, Hiyori and Ikuya were both fidgety to say the least.

They basically spent the whole day in Ikuya’s room, cuddling and quietly talking about regular topics. Neither wanted to raise the subject about the future, the next year and how they’d be separated again.

Hiyori was feeling especially awful. Every moment of Ikuya reminded him of what he could have, the life he could lead. It wasn’t just a dream anymore. But he also knew that the time was running out.

Right now, he just wanted to stay on Ikuya’s bed, with Ikuya leaning against his side and softly drawing circles on his chest while Hiyori played with his hair.

The day was turning into an evening and Hiyori felt his body growing colder as he could do nothing about the time passing too fast.

“Ikuya..” He started.

“Don’t say it.” Ikuya sounded almost angry as he interrupted the other.

“You wanna walk me to the beach?” Hiyori smiled softly at the adorable teal-haired boy on his chest. He knew Ikuya was upset so he tried to stay calm. _Two_ panicking teenagers wouldn’t help the already difficult situation.

Ikuya only lifted his head enough to capture Hiyori’s lips with his own, cupping the other’s cheek carefully. They had shared many small kisses during the week, most of which could have only been gestures of appreciation or profound friendship and bond. These kisses felt different, more meaningful than the previous ones.

Hiyori deepened the kiss slowly, brushing Ikuya’s long bangs away from his face.

When Hiyori opened his eyes and ended the kiss, the sight was nothing short of ethereal as Ikuya leaned on him on the bed, face flushed adorably pink, lips still glistening and an authentic, pleased but happy smile on his face as he stared right into Hiyori’s eyes.

It was everything Hiyori wanted.

The walk back to the beach was awkwardly silent. Ikuya was holding onto Hiyori’s hand like a lifeline, right until they reached the pier again.

“What are we going to do?” Ikuya suddenly asked and both understood exactly what he was talking about.

“I can still send you letters again..”

“I don’t think that’s enough, Hiyori. I don’t want us to move backwards, I…” Hiyori could see how Ikuya bit down into his lower lip to control his emotions. Ikuya had already told him about the anxiety and other problems he had in his life and he hated to bring more sadness and loneliness into it.

“I agree..” Hiyori whispered and Ikuya turned to look at him hopefully. “But I don’t think we have any other choice either.”

The distress was clear on Ikuya’s face now, in the form of tears that almost overflowed from his eyes.

“I don’t want to. I _hate_ this. It’s so unfair! I don’t.. I don’t want you to leave me!” Ikuya’s voice rose and he clenched his fists on his sides.

It made Hiyori’s heart ache too. “I have to. It hurts me too, Ikuya. I don’t want to be alone.”

“Then don’t! Stay here, just a little longer. You don’t have school yet either, so you can stay a couple of days.”

“You know I can’t.”

“Then, what? Are we going to really continue seeing each other once a week for.. who knows how long? Don’t you want something more out of life than that?” Ikuya’s teary eyes shone in the afternoon sun.

“That.. That’s not possible..”

“Why not?” Ikuya sounded desperate, searching for some kind of a solution in a puzzle Hiyori knew was a dead end.

“When I turn 18.. I have to decide whether I’ll choose the human life or the merman life. It means that after that, I won’t be able to change back into the other form anymore and am allowed to have very minimal contact to the other world, basically none.”

“ _What?”_ Ikuya gasped softly, disbelief dripping from his voice. “You haven’t told me this.”

“I didn’t think our relationship would ever become.. like this. I didn’t think there was a point, because you have always done just well without me.”

“You don’t know that, Hiyori.” Ikuya’s face had fallen, and he looks almost sick. “But.. That means you could also choose to turn into a human.. for the rest of your life.” It sounded like a question. A question Hiyori didn’t ever want to answer.

“Yes. But..”

“But you’ve already decided.” Ikuya finished for him. Hiyori didn’t continue.

Ikuya sighed heavily beside him and turned to take both of Hiyori’s hands in his.

“So, if you’re going to decide _that_ in the end.. Would you reconsider staying for a little bit longer? _Please?_ ” Ikuya sounded heart-broken and Hiyori knew it was his fault, he had been postponing this.

He felt like he owed it to Ikuya, to spend more time with him. But even if he didn’t, he found himself wanting the same thing, probably as desperately as Ikuya seemed to.

Thinking more carefully, he might just owe it to himself too.

That’s how Hiyori found himself sitting on a bus the next morning, Ikuya already asleep next to him, on their way to Tokyo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ikuya's just waiting for his husband to return from the sea ::'))
> 
> They are so soft and I absolutely live for it! I feel they needed to "get together" quite early in the story, because it makes the situation more angsty and juicy ;))  
> Of course, there also had to be an ultimatum when Hiyori turns 18, life can't be that easy.. 
> 
> Oof, I'm very soon going to be in serious trouble, when I catch up with my writing :I I'll make it work though! Good thing I have almost everything planned out!
> 
> Next time you get to find out why they're going to Tokyo and what happens there :') Love all the kudos and comments so keep it coming! See you next Sunday!<3


	7. 16 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ikuya and Hiyori travel to Tokyo.

Ikuya sat on the window seat of the bus and looked out. He had just woken up and checked the clock to see that they still had an hour to go 'til Tokyo. When he turned to his left, he found Hiyori nervously tugging at his shirt.

“Are you alright?” Ikuya started. The bus was silent, if not for the humming of the motor.

“Y-Yeah. It’s just.. weird.”

“You’re worried.” Ikuya corrected, hoping he could read Hiyori enough to guess correctly.

“I am..”

“Do you have know what.. could happen?” Ikuya didn’t want to remind Hiyori that he was indeed breaking the rules of his people and his parents. He might have to face the consequences for it in some way, but Ikuya didn’t want to start thinking about it.

“I don’t. I’ve never heard of anyone disobeying the rules and not returning after a week. Usually the young merpeople come up to the surface together with their friends and spend the days of the week just playing and exploring, not really having any reason not to go back. I.. well, my situation is a bit different. But I hope.. it can be fixed later.”

Ikuya hoped so too. He hoped they hadn’t just ruined their chance to ever meet again.

“But your mom’s fine with us visiting?” Hiyori looked just as worried about Ikuya’s mother as he was about turning against his own kind. It was kind of funny to Ikuya.

“Of course, she is. I just explained that my friend at Shionezaki has never been to Tokyo and we wanted to make a trip to show you around. It’s just for three days.”

Hiyori nodded and flashed a shy smile. “I do think it’s good that we go to Tokyo. I think otherwise my parents would know where to look for me. Here we can be alone.” Hiyori’s face softened even more.

“ _My_ mom is still there, so don’t get too excited.” Ikuya smirked and placed his hand on top of Hiyori’s, on his knee.

“I-I didn’t mean anything weird!” Hiyori panicked and blushed. Just the reaction Ikuya had hoped to get with his comment. He felt more and more confident that they had made the right decision.

\------

When they reached the Tokyo station, they took a local bus to their mom’s apartment. It was in an apartment building in a quieter area, 30 minute bus ride from the center of Tokyo.

The apartment was still near the same neighbourhood where Ikuya had lived before his parents had divorced- so he had told Hiyori. That's whh Ikuya could still navigate the area perfectly and was able to attend the same school as before.

Hiyori admired the view from the bus as they passed wide streets filled with crowds, cars and shoppers. There were building taller than the tallest trees he’d ever seen in Shionezaki, everything was so bright with colors and lights.

The bus soon headed into more rural area, where they were neighbourhoods similar to the ones in Shionezaki, surrounded by fields and more nature. The evening sun was coloring all the houses with shades of orange and red. Hiyori had always loved how these colors looked through the surface of the sea water.

He felt a shiver down his spine when his wandered to think what his parents were doing now. He was basically missing and hadn’t told them anything. He knew that his parents might try contacting Ikuya’s father, the address of whom he had left for his parents in case of emergencies. If his parents even cared that he was gone.

Eventually, Ikuya pulled on Hiyori’s sleeve to indicate that they’d get off soon. When they got off the bus, Hiyori was met with a warm but dry air. The sea was still many kilometers away from where they were and it made Hiyori a little anxious. He’d never been so far from his home.

They entered a building with five floors and traveled the elevator up to the third. Ikuya used his key to open the door, but a woman was already approaching them from the hallway.

“Hey, you made it!” The woman smiled and Hiyori could tell she shared similar energy to Natsuya, whereas Ikuya was more like his father. Ikuya’s mom had her teal hair up in a bun and similar auburn eyes to Ikuya.

“I’ve already missed my little baby sooo much!” She embraced Ikuya in a tight hug that Ikuya tried (but failed) to get out of.

“And Hiyori-kun, I assume.” She turned now to Hiyori and smiled widely, looking up since she was a head shorter than Hiyori.

“Y-Yes!” He stated, embarrassingly loud. “Thanks for having me!”

“Pleasure’s all mine, honey.” She hugged Hiyori too, not as tight or long, but it was warm and welcoming. Hiyori was a bit weirded out by the warm behavior of Ikuya’s mother, but he liked it a lot.

She chatted and asked Ikuya about his stay at Shionezaki. She had apparently made dinner for them, but Ikuya asked if they could first take their bags to Ikuya’s room. Not that Hiyori had anything of his own, but had just borrowed a few changes of clothes from Ikuya, hoping that he’d fit in the more looser clothes that Ikuya had.

They walked through the small living room and turned around the corner where there were three doors. Ikuya headed to the one the furthest.

“I hope that wasn’t too much. My mom’s.. energetic.”

“She was very kind! So... I don’t mind .”

Ikuya opened the door and pushed the light switch on.

“Tell me if she gets overwhelming. Though I think she’ll be at work during the days anyway.” Hiyori stepped into the room and looked around it- the bed in the corner, a desk and closet, some swimming trophies on them, a game console and controllers on the floor. Hiyori remembered how the 8-year old Ikuya had listed all the games he owned in Tokyo.

“I really don’t mind. It’s.. something different.” Hiyori smiled sadly. “But wow. I’d say I couldn’t guess what your room looks like, but this is exactly what I would have thought, in some way.” Hiyori grinned.

“Well, get used to it.” Ikuya pulled Hiyori closer to him, hands around the small of his back and buried his face in Hiyori’s shirt. Hiyori hugged the boy back, warm from the affection Ikuya was giving him, and just his presence.

They ate with Ikuya’s mother, who truly was as talkative as Natsuya. She asked all kinds of things from Hiyori, not shy about anything. Hiyori was proud when she laughed at something he said. It was easy being around her and Hiyori couldn’t help thinking that he now knew that he’d get well along all members of Ikuya’s family.

Ikuya’s mom went to sleep before them, while the boys both climbed into Ikuya’s bed, barely fitting in it without touching. Though neither of them wanted to be even that far apart from the other. Hiyori caressed his thumb along Ikuya’s neck and shoulders, excited for the few extra days together as Ikuya fell asleep in his arms.

\------

The next morning Ikuya woke up as the sun shone through the windows of his room. For a while, he felt peacefully content, basking in the warmth of the sun and Hiyori. He remembered how well the day before had went, how Hiyori looked like he enjoyed being here and meeting his mother, and how comforting it was to think Hiyori was staying here with them, even if for just a few days.

But he couldn’t shake off the growing worry that had tinted his mind after Hiyori told about his life, the decision he had to make. Thinking about the issue logically did not help but made his mood even worse. _Logic_ wasn’t exactly on his side in the matter.

He rolled over on his side to take a better look at Hiyori. Ikuya always found him quite breathtaking, especially like this, lying next to him asleep, the sun only highlighting his features and making him glow.

Now that Ikuya looked closer, Hiyori’s glow wasn’t from the sun but from the thin layer of sweat on his forehead. Ikuya placed his hand on Hiyori’s neck to inspect closer, only to find Hiyori burning hot.

Ikuya immediately sat up, overcome with worry. He tested Hiyori’s forehead which was indeed unnaturally hot and sweaty. When Ikuya turned Hiyori to his back, he saw Hiyori’s face start twisting into a scowl, whines escaping his parted lips. _Was he having a nightmare?_

Ikuya started carefully shaking the boy awake, as Hiyori’s voice started sounding more and more like he was in distress.

“Hiyori!” Ikuya finally got Hiyori out of sleep and whatever dream made him so restless and Hiyori opened his eyes wide.

He panted and looked around the room quickly, clearly panicked and disoriented, until his eyes landed on Ikuya beside him.

“O-Oh..” He released his tense muscles but couldn’t calm down.

“You’re fine. You’re here in Tokyo, with me.” Ikuya cupped his friend’s cheek.

“Y-Yeah.. You’re right.”

“Were you having..” Ikuya started but was swiftly interrupted.

“I have to get up.” Hiyori began moving and shuffling under the sheets. Ikuya wanted to stop him, tell him that he wanted to know, that Hiyori wouldn’t have to run away like he _clearly_ tried to.

Ikuya wanted to help him, but couldn’t even make a sound as Hiyori collapsed on the floor, right in front of the bed.

“HIYORI!” His blood ran cold as he thought of Hiyori fainting right in front of his eyes.

Gladly, the boy seemed to be conscious, lifting his upper body from the floor. He couldn’t get any further though, because when Ikuya took a glance at Hiyori on the floor, he noticed Hiyori’s legs basically mutated into half feet and half tail, his legs attached to each other.

Ikuya was still in shock, observing Hiyori’s state, only for Hiyori to look just as shocked as him.

“I-I need water.” He whispered, frozen on the floor. Ikuya jumped up from the bed and told Hiyori that he’d bring him a glass.

“No. I need to be submerged in water,” he shouted after Ikuya.

In a few moments, Ikuya had run a bath for Hiyori in their bathroom (luckily his mother was already at work) and had carried Hiyori into it. He watched as Hiyori’s legs turned fully into the familiar tail, submerged but the tail hanging over the tub.

Hiyori soon took his shirt off too, not wanting it to get wet and handed it to the frustrated Ikuya. Hiyori only sighed next to him, now relaxed and calm.

“Everything’s alright now?” Ikuya didn’t even know where to begin.

“Yes. I was feeling feverish when you woke me up, but I assume it was all part of some kind of withdrawal symptoms. I didn’t know something like this might happen. I’m sorry.” Hiyori played with the warm water, letting it run through his fingers.

“You couldn’t know. Don’t be silly.” Ikuya countered. “Were you having a nightmare?”

Hiyori tensed in the water again. “Sort of. I remember glimpses of it, but most clearly I remember the feeling of.. drowning, like, water surrounding me and pressing me deeper and deeper, feeling like I couldn’t breath. It’s stupid, because it’s not exactly.. possible for me..”

Ikuya just nodded and felt guilty for some reason. This everything had been _his_ idea. _Maybe he was putting Hiyori in danger._

“Do you think it’ll happen again? Should we..” He hesitated. “Should we go back?”

“I don’t want to.” Hiyori turned to him and looked deep into his eyes. Ikuya could see worry, but also confidence and seriousness in them. “I feel better already, it’s pointless to go back to Shionezaki when I think I might be able to heal by just being in water for a while longer. If I could go to the sea here and swim for a bit, I think I’d be fine after that. At least for a few days.”

It was relieving that Hiyori wanted to stay. He even looked a bit less scared now, like the worst was already behind them. It helped Ikuya’s mind to calm down too, but he couldn’t ignore the reality of the situation. But he did come up with a plan.

“I don’t want you to go to the beach all by yourself. The weather is pretty freezing sometimes at the shore and I couldn’t even swim with you because of the drift in the sea. But I think I know where we can go.”

\------

After Hiyori felt he had his strength back, he got up from the tub, his tail disappearing to be replaced by human legs again. Ikuya had made them some lunch, since the day was already turning to an afternoon.

Hiyori wasn’t worried for himself anymore, but he could see that Ikuya was getting more and more uneasy.

After they ate, Ikuya gathered some stuff and lead Hiyori outside. He apparently had some kind of an idea that might ease the situation or maybe just take their minds off of it.

Hiyori was expecting them to go to the bus stop, but Ikuya turned to the other direction from his house and kept walking. Wherever Ikuya was taking him, it must have been in the neighborhood.

“Can I ask where we are going?” Hiyori finally took the step beside Ikuya and grinned.

“Oh,” Ikuya had been in his thoughts, “you’ll see soon, it’s not very far anymore.”

Even if Ikuya was way too much in his head about something, Hiyori wanted them to have fun and just enjoy the time with each other. He was excellent at ignoring the sad stuff that was happening and just trying to lift the mood. Fortunately, he was also an expert in making Ikuya smile.

“Can’t wait then.” Hiyori smiled warmly and stepped closer to take hold of Ikuya’s hand. It was still so warm, even in the brisk afternoon air and it made Hiyori feel connected to Ikuya. He squeezed the hand as best as he could, silently telling Ikuya that he wouldn’t let go so easily.

Ikuya didn’t squeeze back but side-eyed Hiyori’s smiling face every once in a while, thinking he wouldn’t notice.

He let go of Hiyori’s hand when they reached their destination, though. They stood in front of a big building that looked like a huge gym. The text above the entrance that said ‘swimming hall’ reveled the true meaning of the building.

“Wait, what are you thinking, Ikuya?” The sentence didn’t come out angrily or worried, but curious.

“This is the hall where we train with my high school team. I texted my coach and asked if I could come train here today, since it’s closed on Mondays. He told me it’s fine and that there’s a spare key here for his students.”

“He let you?” Hiyori couldn’t help his lips twitching up at the idea of swimming with Ikuya again.

“I told him I wasn’t going alone.” Ikuya shrugged and smiled- barely.

Ikuya went to the locker rooms to change while Hiyori had already found the pools. The water was still and the hall quiet, even a drop of water could be heard there. The last rays of the sun were shining through the big ceiling windows. They truly were here completely alone, no one could even see inside.

Even in the deafening silence Hiyori couldn’t hear Ikuya walking behind him.

“Wanna swim?” He almost whispered to Hiyori’s ear and Hiyori’s whole body shivered. He turned to look at Ikuya who had a mischievous grin on his face. Hiyori loved it. He seriously loved so many things about Ikuya.

“I was thinking that you could stretch your _tail_ here and we could swim for a bit.” Ikuya was teasing him, but Hiyori could only hear the offer behind the words.

“Do you want to?” Hiyori was almost bursting from the giddiness.

As Ikuya nodded and turned to sit on the edge of the pool, Hiyori undressed his shirt and pants and dove into the pool. But when the tips of his fingers graced the surface of the water, Hiyori felt the familiar warm flow inside him and as soon as he was underwater, the reflection of his merman form greeted him in the shadow of the pool floor.

He came back to the surface, gasping from the adrenaline and finding Ikuya still sitting on the edge.

Ikuya was finally smiling again, a happy grin on his face.

“How is it?” Ikuya asked as he got up to jump.

“Perfect.”

Ikuya jumped into the pool after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit more fluff and angst for you ;)) I notice that this fic really switches between them quite often xdd Next time my boys will go swim, look forward to it :))
> 
> I have noticed how hard it it to write fantasy elements in a story xdd this is somethign very different than what I usually write but I'm happy that I'm trying something new :) But that's also the reason I prefer to write from Ikuya's pov, and won't go too deep into the fantasy world in the fic :)) 
> 
> Thank you so much for the comments! I motivates me to write really much!


	8. 16 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiyori shows Ikuya a bit of his world at the swimming hall and Ikuya doens't know what he thinks about it.

Ikuya had seen Hiyori’s scales and tail up close a few times (the last one being just a few hours ago as Hiyori laid in their family’s _bathtub_ ), but he still couldn’t take his eyes away from the sight as he had dove in.

Hiyori watched him stand in the middle of the pool as he swam the pool up and down, swirling around the teal haired boy. He could feel his tail flowing through the water, occasionally splashing his tail. Even underwater he could hear Ikuya laughing at the splashes.

He swam back to Ikuya and emerged form under the water right in front of the human. Ikuya looked so beautiful this close, the evening sun from the windows lighting up his eyes, and the water drops on his hair and skin hugging the smooth, pale skin. He even noticed the faint blush on Ikuya’s cheeks and felt proud knowing that he was the cause of it. The small proximity between them, the quiet hall and sounds of the small waves made on the surface of the pool had entranced them. _This_ was their place.

Looking a short moment longer into the deep vermillion eyes, until he had an idea.

“Wanna race me?” He grinned, awarded with an even more deepening blush on Ikuya’s face.

But Ikuya seemed to recognize the words even in the little trance they were in and nodded.

It was just for fun, Hiyori thought. They didn’t need to count down or strta at the finish line as they both just dove into the water, swiftly taking their own lanes and starting to swim to the other end of the pool.

Ikuya swam the free style as he dove under the water, not looking at Hiyori as he swam. Hiyori didn’t need the surface; he glided under water towards the end of the pool, not even putting all his strength into it. 

Hiyori kept looking beside him to see Ikuya still keeping up with him, though. _It was impressive_. He picked up his pace to tease the other, which Ikuya noticed immediately. He wanted to see the glint in Ikuya’s eyes, knowing Ikuya was putting everything into his performance and swimming with his whole being, his body that was not even made for water. It was mesmerizing how the foreign element seemed to favor Ikuya so much. Like in the water, they weren’t that different after all.

But for some reason, Ikuya seemed to be trying really hard, too much even. He already had the water favoring him and Hiyori supporting him, so why was he so tense. The water right around him looked like it was pushing Ikuya back, even though Hiyori knew it wasn’t true. It was like Ikuya was the one rejecting the water and not the other way around.

They stopped at the end, both panting slightly. Hiyori had obviously won, but neither said it out loud.

“This is so unfair.” Ikuya acted insulted but grinned, without it reaching his eyes. “You have a pretty useful advantage.”

Hiyori draped over the float lines to Ikuya’s side. He softly touched Ikuya’s shoulder, but Ikuya shrugged under the touch. _Maybe Hiyori had been too forward._

“Can you give me your hand?” Hiyori asked instead and this time, Ikuya let him take the hand, not shrugging away. He looked flustered by the request, though, even a bit worried.

Hiyori placed Ikuya’s hand on his shoulder, giving a reassuring smile to Ikuya. “Hold on tight.”

He plummeted back underwater, Ikuya following him, holding onto his shoulders.

Hiyori swam across the pool slowly, now Ikuya on his back, holding onto both of his shoulders and drifting along with Hiyori’s strokes. It was like a dream, Ikuya floating through in air, only surrounded by the beautiful pink light from the last rays of the evening sun.

They swam in circles through the pool, Ikuya kicking his feet a bit as Hiyori lead them. He tried to make sure that they weren’t underwater for too long, but it felt like hours to him. He had always thought that somehow time slowed down underwater. At moments like this, it really did.

Ikuya’s hair and eyes glistened even underwater and Hiyori couldn’t escape the thought that Ikuya looked like a merman too, at that moment. The sad smile the Hiyori gave Ikuya above him seemed to convey his thoughts too well, because Ikuya suddenly looked like he might panic and squeezed Hiyori’s shoulder in sign of bringing him back to the surface.

Hiyori brought them up, back at shallow end of the pool. Ikuya went to hold himself up from the edge of the pool, trying to catch his breath. Hiyori knew that they weren’t underwater for too long for Ikuya, but he was still gasping quietly.

Hiyori suddenly remembered how Ikuya had told him about his incident when he almost drowned and felt a small panic rise to his muscles too, tensing them involuntarily. Maybe it _was_ all Hiyori’s fault for pushing him too far, not listening what Ikuya wanted.

“Ikuya..” Hiyori had to fix it. He had to tell him that everything was okay, that Ikuya wasn’t alone or in danger but with Hiyori.

Ikuya didn’t look up as he lifted himself from the water and took a seat at the edge, panting less now.

He looked so small, so scared. His eyes were downcast and his hair didn’t shine anymore, almost black in the fading light.

Hiyori wanted to see those bright eyes again, wanted to bring the light back to them right now. He was so worried and sorry, and he needed to make this _right_.

Suddenly, Hiyori placed his hands on both sides of Ikuya’s legs and lifted himself up. He wanted to hol the boy, be close and take him in his arms.

But first, he wanted to kiss away the sadness and worry in those lost eyes in the way that he knew how, leaning right into Ikuya’s space.

But, before Hiyori could reach the other’s lips, only a centimeter away, he felt a push on his chest and fell back into the water.

Shocked at what had happened, _maybe_ _he had lost his balance_ , he turned to his human form, now standing in the water on his legs, glasses and underwear back on as he had left them.

He was going to ask Ikuya what had happened, still a bit disoriented from the suddent fall and transformation, when he noticed Ikuya’s wide eyes, parted lips and _hands_ right in front of his chest.

_Ikuya had pushed him away._

“S-Sorry—” Hiyori wasn’t sure who had uttered the frightened words, but it was probably him.

The sight played in his head over and over again. Hiyori trying to kiss Ikuya, only to be pushed away, like Hiyori had tried to hurt him. _Like he was someone Ikuya couldn’t trust._

Hiyori had miscalculated again. Maybe Ikuya wasn’t ready for the kind of intimacy he was forcing on him. Holding hands outside of the house, the lingering gazes full of love he always gave Ikuya, the kisses he tried to steal that were more than just quick pecks.. Ikuya probably still didn’t trust him enough for that, _he wasn’t ready_ , Hiyori thought. _And how could he be? Hiyori had only proved to him that the only constant in their relationship was eventually parting again_.

Hiyori’s mind cleared, when he noticed Ikuya get up from the edge of the pool and almost running to the locker rooms.

“Let’s go,” was the quiet sentence Ikuya uttered between even more gasps.

\-----

They walked back to Ikuya’s in a pressuring silence. Ikuya had calmed down and was now wearing a neutral look on his face, but Hiyori could tell that he was deep in his thoughts and worried. It was only making Hiyori feel worse, because he knew he had been the one to aggravate Ikuya this time.

The least he could do was to apologize to Ikuya but wanted to give the boy time to gather his thoughts first, so they walked silently.

They walked straight into Ikuya’s room, his mom still at work for an hour or two.

Hiyori sat on the bed, while Ikuya stayed standing, fidgeting with his clothes and his damp hair. He looked uncomfortable and Hiyori hated it, hated that he was the reason for it. This was exactly how he never hoped to see Ikuya act because of him.

“Ikuya, I’m sorry.” He started quietly.

“What for?” Ikuya didn’t look at him.

“I don’t know, everything? I’m sorry I make you feel this way, and for making you go through this with me. I’m sorry I tried to kiss you when you clearly didn’t want to and for letting you down.”

Hiyori waited for a while for Ikuya to say something. He was expecting Ikuya to tell Hiyori that ‘it was okay’, because Ikuya always did that. He _didn’t_ expect...

“You don’t get it, do you?”

Ikuya’s voice was tense.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not about that. It’s not about me not _wanting_ this.” Ikuya clenched his hands and his jaw. “ Yes, it’s about you, but it’s not something you did or something you can even control, so stop apologizing. It’s that I want this _so much_ that I’m _scared_!”

Hiyori was still thinking that this was his fault, that he hurt Ikuya like this. He wasn’t so happy about the situation he had put them in, he hated it actually, but he had been blinded by the happiness and Ikuya’s presence, thinking it would all be alright.

“W-What do you want?” He asked for Ikuya to specify, a bit scared for the answer. Ikuya didn’t answer him, though.

“I can’t do this, when I know I will lose you in the end. Being with you is.. so easy and it makes me so happy, but I can’t relax knowing what will happen, knowing that after two years I will never see you again. Because I know there’s not even a choice, you won’t choose me.” Ikuya flung his hands as he spoke, already distressed.

“Ikuya, I understand that. I can’t even imagine how this makes you feel, but it’s hurting me too. It’s not so simple…”

“I know it’s not! But.. we would lose _all this_. Everything we’ve built and how we’ve fought to be with each other so far. And the choice is scaring me so much, because I can’t really affect it, I can just watch you drift away from me.” His eyes glistened with tears, which only made Hiyori’s heart ache even more. “I want.. I want you to choose me.”

“It would be very hard for me to cope here, you know that.” Hiyori spoke softly but sternly. “I have nothing here, besides from you. I don’t have money, a place to live, no education fit for this world. But we _have_ fought so hard, and I don’t want to throw that away, I’d never do that. But I also can’t base my life decisions on one person, even if it’s you. I have to do what’s right for _me_.”

Ikuya seemed to calm down, sighing deeply.

“Yeah, I know. I ruined everything. You had so much fun here, you were happy, but I ruined this. I brought you here to make you happy and enjoy this world, but I was only thinking about myself.”

“Of course not, Ikuya! I would have never dreamt of a better time with you and nothing can change that! I should have known that he still needed to talk about this.” He grabbed Ikuya’s shoulders again to look closer to his best friend. This time, Ikuya didn’t flinch away.

“Well, I’m sorry too. I panicked and I shouldn’t have pushed you away.” His voice wavered as he apologized.

“It’s alright, Ikuya.” Hiyori smiled. Ikuya observed the smile, like deciding that it was genuine, he relaxed too. “We still have time. Maybe we can come up with more fun things to do.” Hiyori reassured him.

Ikuya moved quietly, taking a seat next to Hiyori on the bed as Hiyori let go of his shoulders. He looked exhausted, like all the energy had drained out of his body. Hiyori would have held him anyway, but he was relieved when Ikuya came to rest his head on Hiyori’s shoulder on his own.

“I know this is not your world.. but I wish it could be.” He whispered. It always made Hiyori shiver, the warmth in his chest expand even more to know that Ikuya would support his decisions. He still had two years’ time to think about it, but even that felt too short.

Before he could start thinking about anything else, Ikuya lifted his head from his shoulder and looked at him closely. Cupping Hiyori’s cheeks, he smiled and connected their lips. Hiyori could see how small tears formed in Ikuya’s eyes again, but Hiyori decided to close his own to not see them fall.

The kiss was soft and full of reassurance and comfort. The rest of Ikuya’s energy drained out into the kiss and Hiyori held him tighter, not letting Ikuya slip away from his fingers.

When they parted Ikuya slumped back on the bed, onto Hiyori’s chest and Hiyori continued to keep him there- close to him. It was all he could do for now.

\------

They only had one day after that until they returned to Shionezaki.

Ikuya took Hiyori to his favorite café and showed around the neighborhood where the swim hall and Ikuya’s school was. The day was nice, they could act normally again, like the couple they almost were. But the worry about the future didn’t leave either of their minds completely.

The next morning, they said goodbye to Ikuya’s mother who hugged the boys tightly and told Hiyori to be back whenever he wanted. Hiyori thanked her and promised to be back someday. He hoped he could fulfill the promise too.

\------

The bus they took to Shionezaki was as empty as the bus they had arrived with. Ikuya’s father greeted them at the platform in the beachside town and drove them home.

They once again stood at the door of Ikuya’s father’s house, like they had never left. Like the last three days had just been a dream.

When Hiyori went to the bathroom, Ikuya’s father pulled Ikuya away for a while.

“Hey, I want to tell you this first, but I hope you can tell this to Hiyori. I just don’t want to interfere too much, this is not about me.” His father looked worried.

“What is it?”

“When you were in Tokyo, Hiyori’s mother came here.” His father tried to calm Ikuya, when he heard the audible gasp. “It’s fine, she was very nice. She was just worried for Hiyori, because she said he had gone missing. I told her that he was in Tokyo with you and asked if she wanted to contact Hiyori, but she refused and left. I don’t know what that was about, but I hope everything’s fine…”

“Thanks, dad.. I’m not sure what to do about it either. But I will talk to Hiyori.” His father nodded with a small smile and left the room when Hiyori returned.

“I guess we have to head for the beach, right?” Ikuya stated to Hiyori. Ikuya knew their time was ending, he had already gotten extra days with Hiyori. It still felt just as hard, if not harder.

Hiyori nodded, like he knew it too.

Once they neared the beach, Ikuya stopped them. They stood on the sand and the familiar afternoon sun colored them both, like on the many days they had spent together on the beach. Ikuya couldn’t help thinking how many times he’d have to do this still, letting go of Hiyori, until one day he didn’t have a choice anymore.

“Hey, I have something I want to tell you.” Ikuya kept smiling still. He tried to think of the positive. Hiyori turned to him and let him continue. “First, your mother came to our house, when we were in Tokyo.”

Ikuya noticed how Hiyori’s face lost all its color. “Don’t worry, nothing happened and she didn’t even try to contact you when my father offered her to.”

Hiyori’s face was painted with a distinct emotion, fear. “Oh my god.. I don’t know what they’ll do. I’m so sorry, I never thought you and your family would get involved in this like that..”

“It’s fine. It’s not your fault and nothing even happened.” He smiled and Hiyori let his fists unclench as Ikuya took them in his hands.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” Hiyori relaxed.

“I have another thing I want to tell you, though.” He tightened his fingers in Hiyori’s hands. “I wanted to say this to you a long time ago, but I realized I never actually said it out loud.-And it’s that I really like you, Hiyori. I want us to be official, even if for just the next two years. You’re really important to me.” He talked a bit more quietly.

Hiyori smiled back and spoke with the same quiet volume, filling just the space around them, their own little bubble. “I want that too. I like you too, Ikuya, like… I want to be with you and want to call you my boyfriend-kinda way.” It made Ikuya giggle, the most beautiful sound.

“I can’t make this situation any easier for you, Hiyori, I wish I could. But I can only offer my promise to you, that I’ll be waiting here. No matter when you decide to come back.”

They said goodbye on the pier, not exchanging many words between them anymore. They had come up with a plan on the bus that Hiyori would swim to the shore once every day, so that they could see each other, before Ikuya had to return to Tokyo. It was the little promise they could make for the other.

So the next few days, Ikuya always woke up early in the morning, when the small town was still sleeping, and walked to the pier. Hiyori was usually already waiting for him there or arrived soon. He wasn’t allowed to take his human form, but they could just sit on the pier until the first people of the day started occupying the beach. They had these little moments with each other every day, and it gave Ikuya hope that they could make this work, even if they had very different lives.

It worked for 6 days, that they met each other on the pier in the morning.

On the seventh, when Ikuya only had a few more days until his school started again back in Tokyo, he arrived to the beach again, but someone was already there.

First, Ikuya panicked. This woman that stood on the pier would see if Hiyori arrived, and that was _not_ good. Hiyori had told him that he couldn’t come to shore if there was anyone else.

But soon, he noticed that something wasn’t right.

The woman stood on the pier in clean clothes, looking out into the sea and her hair was a little damp, where it lay flatly on just above her shoulders. She didn’t look like she was on her way to work; she just stood and stared out into the ocean.

Ikuya walked closer to the pier, trying to stay silent, but she seemed to sense him. She turned, brown hair swinging with the motion as she pushed up the black glasses on her face. She looked older, maybe the same age as Ikuya’s mom, but otherwise the features were very much recognizable.

It was Hiyori’s mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been thinking that this fic is kinda angsty, but when I read back to my writing I notice that the fluff is pretty powerful xd I hope you don't mind that I'm once again giving you some very, very sappy scenes :')) I love to write them!
> 
> I really wanted a scene where Hiyori and Ikuya swim together and here he have it. Ikuya's also not sure what he thinks about the situation they are in, he's pretty torn about his feelings and the decision Hiyori will have to make :(   
> I'm also leaving you with a cliff hanger this time xddd I wonder what Hiyori's mother has to say ;)
> 
> Thanks you everyone for the lovely comments! I'm really motivated by them :' <3


	9. 17 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The woman had turned to fully face him and smiled warmly, or that’s how someone might have described it, while Ikuya thought it more mischievous. He had an idea about why she was here. And why Hiyori wasn’t.

“You must be Ikuya.”

The woman had turned to fully face him and smiled warmly, or that’s how someone might have described it, while Ikuya thought it more mischievous. He had an idea about why she was here. _And why Hiyori wasn’t._

“Where’s Hiyori?”

He wasn't going to beat around the bush here. She must have known they had been meeting at the beach, what they had done in Tokyo. She _knew_ that Hiyori had shared Ikuya his secret.

Her smile twisted just a little uncomfortably. “I’m sorry, Ikuya. We decided that it was best that I came here today. I hope you can understand.” She tried to look sorry, but Ikuya didn’t buy it.

“I doubt that Hiyori had any say in your decision.” He tried to keep his frustration out of his voice, but his body was displaying it without any doubt, fists clenched and brows furrowed.

“Ikuya..” She sighed. “I don’t know what Hiyori has told you, and in a lot of things he must be right to say what he’s said.. but me and my husband have never done anything to hurt him or to deny him of autonomy. I hope you can somehow understand that and I hoped we could speak.”

“So, you’re just going to speak for Hiyori now, huh? I really don’t see any reason to listen to you..” He explained. Ikuya was angry, so he didn’t want to listen. He didn’t want their pity, he didn’t want to hear that they were just ‘dumb teens’ or ‘not able to make decision yet’. He knew what he felt and how Hiyori felt and that’s all that mattered. Even if deep inside he knew that he’d lose Hiyori for good if Hiyori couldn’t convince his parents to let him stay with him.

“I wouldn’t speak _for_ him, I couldn’t do that. I can only talk from my perspective and from what we have talked to Hiyori about. I think it’s what you both _need_ to hear and consider.” Her smile was gone, but she still sounded soft, her voice quiet and almost unsure. Ikuya never thought Hiyori’s mother would be so.. normal, shy even.

“I don’t need your opinion.” He almost spat the words from his mouth. “I don’t want it.”

“I understand, but..”

“No, you don’t! I know why you’re here and what you’re trying to do. You will just try to undermine my words and my perspective of the situation, so I don’t have anything to say to you!” He took a few steps closer, trying to intimidate the small woman.

“Ikuya, I do care about your opinion too and you can of course tell me your side. But I also want you to listen to mine.”

Ikuya wanted to scream, to refuse, to _run away_ , but something made him stay. He stayed silent, trying to calm himself down. He was doing this for _Hiyori_.

“My side..” the woman continued. Ikuya realized she hadn’t even told him her name. “.. is of course to decide what’s best for Hiyori. Not for _you both_ , but _only_ for Hiyori.” She started. “I can’t make decision for either of you, but in my opinion, it would be best if you wouldn’t see each other anymore.”

Ikuya _knew it._ She was just trying to separate them, maybe out of guilt or shame, but definitely not out of the goodness of her heart- or Hiyori’s.

“You don’t even know what Hiyori thinks." Ikuya answered "If you knew, you wouldn’t say something like that, wouldn’t even suggest it.”

“I know my son, Ikuya. Maybe not in the same way as you, but I still do.”

“But he likes coming here, he likes being on earth! It’s not just about me, but enjoys to be in this world!” Ikuya pleaded.

“I know that. But the way I see it, it might be just how he is. He loves everything new, explorative and mysterious. I’m just afraid that it might be only for a while and then he loses interest.”

The way she put it, it sounded rational, logical, something Ikuya also needed to consider. But Ikuya refused to believe that Hiyori would just _lose_ interest in something like that. What if he just lost interest in Ikuya? _Would he do that?_

“Neither of us knows that. It’s unreasonable to worry for the future when you don’t know about it.” Ikuya spoke back, barely managing his voice not to waver.

“That is right. But Hiyori has to make that decision, so he needs to think into the future, because what he decides will be final. There’s no turning back. And if he chooses this world, this life.. he might lose everything. Security, his family and loved ones, everything he’s worked for in our world. I don’t want that to happen.”

“He won’t lose me, if he stays here. I may not be able to offer Hiyori a grand life here or promise that everything will go smoothly, but he’d always have me by his side.”

She sighed again. “I think he belongs with his people, where he already has everything he would hope for. Starting a new life here, risking everything for, _I’m sorry_ , but just _one_ person…” She shook her head in defeat. “You can’t even predict the difficulties Hiyori might go through. Even if you stayed with him, it might be too much for Hiyori. He’s such a scared child.”

“How can you say that when _you_ have been the reason he is so scared? If he’s never allowed to make his own decisions, I doubt he would ever survive alone. But that’s not the Hiyori I know.” He frowned deeper just thinking about it. The wonderful person being ripped off his dreams and wants. “He’s the strongest person I’ve ever met,” Ikuya added, more quietly.

“I’m sorry, Ikuya, but realistically.. I know how strongly Hiyori feels about you, but where would your relationship go from there? He just can’t make the biggest decision of his life based on one person, whoever it is. I just want to make you realize that! You might stay together forever, but you also might _not,_ and Hiyori would be the one paying the toll for it.”

Ikuya knew that too. His anger returned even more fierce than before, but not at Hiyori mother. He was angry at himself for not admitting to all the things Hiyori’s mother said to him. It was logical and realistic.. but Ikuya didn’t want to listen to reason in this matter. He was selfish to hope for Hiyori to stay, knowing that Hiyori risked his whole life in it, but he’d be ready to keep his promise too.

She continued. “I can’t make a decision for him or you, but I think it would be better if both of you thought about this a bit more, during the next year, and just _considered_ this side of the story too. That’s all I’m asking.” She spoke softly again, probably seeing how Ikuya clenched his jaw, trying not to _explode_. “Do you want to tell me your side now?”

She sounded so sweet, but Ikuya heard the pity behind the words. _She was just trying to disguise it_. He didn’t want to share anything more about them to her, but he also felt like he had no leverage anymore. Everything he would have said, sounded dumb in his head now.

“I will just say that I will respect Hiyori’s decision too. But it doesn’t mean I won’t fight.” He managed to calm himself down. He was so tired, emotionally. He wanted to be alone, or _see Hiyori_ , but his mother made clear that they’d see each other only next summer. Their last summer together.

He also had one more thought he wanted to hear.

“Did you talk to Hiyori about this too? What did he say?” He knew he couldn’t really trust the woman’s words, he only trusted the one’s he heard straight from Hiyori, but he still wanted to know, to have that one last connection to Hiyori.

“He reacted pretty much the same way as you,” She smiled shyly. “He told everything about you two, but just because I’m still legally his guardian and I have the right to know what he does above the sea. And you’re right, he is strong. He’s grown to be so smart too. We talked about his future, what he wanted, how he would see his future here or with us. He told me he could picture both.” She gave Ikuya a reassuring smile.

Ikuya’s heart skipped a beat too, knowing that Hiyori had not decided yet. He still had a chance.

“But he agreed with me that you will think about this for the next year and can talk about it next summer. I hope that’s fine.”

If Ikuya had any energy left, he’d argue against it, but _truthfully, maybe he needed some time to think too._

With few words, Hiyori’s mother disappeared into the waves and Ikuya was left alone. He still wanted to scream, to break something, to dive into the water and swim to Hiyori. But he promised to think, and he knew he’d better get started right away.

\------

And he thought, long and hard. The whole year too. The thinking was actually a good distraction of how much he missed Hiyori, so he kept up with it.

Then one day, on a rainy evening in April, he got it. At least he thought he did.

He started preparing for the summer when Hiyori came back, planning over all the things he could think of. And when he was ready with the plan, he began to wait again.

\------

The waiting was rewarded on first of July, when Hiyori returned.

Everything about Ikuya’s plan had relied on the fact that Hiyori _would_ actually return, so he felt a big weight lifted off of him on that morning.

Hiyori stood on the pier, looking out into the sea when Ikuya arrived. He was immediately reminded of the encounter with her mother, but shook the memory out of his head. He wanted to only remember the memories with Hiyori.

He ran to the pier and hugged the boy, who had gotten even more taller during the year. They were 17 years old now.

“Hey.” A soft voice greeted Hiyori as Ikuya hid his face on Hiyori’s back, hugging him tightly from behind. Ikuya let go enough that Hiyori was able to turn around in his arms.

“You’re here.” Ikuya couldn’t help but stare as he spoke. He hadn’t let himself think about the fact that Hiyori might have never come back after the talk with Hiyori’s mother. That Hiyori might have changed his mind about him and his world, and decided to abandon him again. But Hiyori was here now.

The brown-haired boy sighed sadly. The year must have been hard for him too, judging from the tired eyes that stared back at Ikuya.

“Are you okay?” Hiyori spoke, not specifying the question.

“I’ve.. been good.” Ikuya started shyly. “I have thought about a lot of things this year. About what your mother said..” He could feel how Hiyori tensed in his arms.

“I’m so sorry, Ikuya. I’m sorry we weren’t able to contact each other for the whole year. It was the only condition that my parents allowed me to come back here now. It was all my fault too, I wasn’t strong enough to say ‘no’ to them.” Hiyori’s voice sounded hurt and Ikuya hated that he was caused so much pain because of the situation. He had so much more to lose than Ikuya did.

“It’s not your fault. I didn’t like being alone, without you, but it was also good. I got to clear my head a bit, focus on my studies and my future.” He reassured the taller boy with a shy smile.

“Okay.. okay, that’s good.” Hiyori smiled back, though he had to force it through the guilt he was feeling.

A short silence descended on them, just staring at each other and breathing in the other’s presence. It was so familiar _and so missed_.

Without saying any more, Ikuya leaned in and stopped only when he felt the soft, salty lips on his. Hiyori smiled genuinely this time as he cupped the back of Ikuya’s neck and leaned more into him, until they pushed apart.

“So, this means _we_ are still fine?” Ikuya grinned widely.

“Of course. I’ve been thinking about you all year, Ikuya.” Hiyori pulled his hands through the teal hair, caressing the soft ends.

“Good. Because I have a plan for us.”

He took Hiyori to their father’s house, where the family greeted Hiyori once again. Natsuya was still in America but was supposed to come visit them in a few days anyway. Though, Ikuya didn’t plan on staying in Shionezaki.

As they walked into Ikuya’s familiar room, the bags were already waiting there along with tickets on the desk table.

“What’s going on, Ikuya? What is your plan?” Hiyori looked at the bags on Ikuya’s bed as Ikuya handed him the two tickets. _Tickets to a train to Tokyo.. in 4 hours._

“Don’t freak out or anything. I’m not making you leave if you don’t want to.” He held his hand on Hiyori’s shoulder. “But I want us to go back to Tokyo, to spend the week there. We have so many things we couldn’t see yet, and I just.. want to make sure you see everything.”

“You know I’m happy as long as I’m with you.” He smiled, making Ikuya blush with his statement. “But.. why?”

Ikuya drew along breath before he started. “I thought about what you’ve said, what your mother talked about. It’s true that this world is still foreign to you, you don’t have contacts or don’t know how to live here. But I don’t want _that_ to be the reason you give up.” He stepped closer. “I’ve talked to some people, arranged some stuff. I want to make you see what your life could be here, to show you that you can have other things that you don’t want to leave behind here, besides me.” He grinned again. “So, first I will take you on a tour of Tokyo’s universities, where you could study. I want to show you apartments in Tokyo, where you could live. I want you to meet some of my friends and spend time with my family, so that you wouldn’t be so alone. And I have one more surprise when we get there. You could make yourself a life here, even from scratch and I’ll help you see it.”

“You thought of all that?” Hiyori’s voice was small, almost wavering.

“Yeah. I hope it’s obvious but I want you to stay.”

Hiyori took him in his arms as they began to prepare for the train.

\---

Hiyori was so happy he got to keep his promise and meet Mrs. Kirishima again. She drew both of the boys into his hug as they arrived in Tokyo. This time the place didn’t feel as big, scary or foreign as last year.

They got to relax for the first night, watching a movie in the evening and eating together with Ikuya’s mother, helping her cook. The atmosphere was comfortable, warm and welcoming again. Hiyori had always hoped he had a home like this to return to. Not that he didn’t love his parents, but the more he thought about it, he wasn’t sure what he was returning to. Here he had Ikuya, his supporting family and a world he wanted to learn. In his world underwater, he had his comfortable, familiar life and his parents, yes, but no motivation to go further.

He could always find a job there, he could have an easy life, which was something Hiyori felt comfortable with. On earth, his life would be exciting, new and he’d have Ikuya by his side, but it would also be unpredictable und unstable.

He crawled to Ikuya’s side early in the night, holding his boyfriend close and tight. He was still thinking about the next days he had still to come in Tokyo as he finally felt tired enough to fall asleep.

Ikuya woke him up early, telling him they had a lot of things planned today. Hiyori couldn’t help feeling excited about the day and spending it with Ikuya. They left after breakfast with Ikuya’s mother and the shorter boy lead them to the bus stop.

Ikuya had given him some ideas about what he had planned, but Hiyori had to just wait and see which of them was today’s agenda.

As they finally got off the bus, the stop said “Tokyo University”. Hiyori grinned widely as they stepped in front of a huge campus area surrounding the old university building.

“This looks amazing, Ikuya.” He almost took the other’s hand as they headed inside the building.

The hallway was huge, illuminated by the sunlight coming in through the big windows. It reminded Hiyori off the library in Shionezaki Ikuya had taken him into.

They walked through the halls, while Hiyori looked inside lecture rooms, study areas, the library of the university. The halls were filled with young people, a few years older than them, heading to and out of classes.

“Are we really allowed to be here?” Hiyori asked as he stepped inside the library, looking at the collections of books inside.

“The universities are open for visitors this week actually. I’m glad I found time to check this university out this week.” Ikuya stated quietly, also judging the facilities.

“Are you thinking of attending?” Hiyori turned abruptly. The idea sounded nice, but also made him feel a bit lonelier then and there. This might be the place where Ikuya will spent the next 4 to 5 years of his life, and just _where would Hiyori be_? He didn’t want to think of the answer.

“I might try. I want to stay in Tokyo, but there are also other universities. And they have better swimming programs.” Ikuya smiled deviously.

“Well, of course.” Hiyori laughed, finally brave enough to slip his fingers between Ikuya’s.

“But this is not just for me. I was hoping that I could show you these universities, so that you could think about your future too. You don’t have to decide anything, but if there’s anything you’re interested in, let me know.” He squeezed Hiyori’s hand and they continued the tour.

Hiyori didn’t know what he wanted yet, though. If he could have asked for something in particular, he would have, but he also wanted Ikuya to see the things that he was interested in. That included the pool of the university.

They had two more universities to go out of the three biggest in Tokyo. The next stop was at Hidaka University. It was a bit newer, right in the middle of town. The university area was even busier and the school looked very high-tech.

“I think this university specializes in science and technology”, Ikuya had told him. It really explained the huge laboratories and technical equipment Hiyori had no idea about.

The pool was impressive, though, and Hiyori even considered that he could join the swim club, but it seemed like some faraway dream.

The last university was more quiet, modern and a bit further from the center of Tokyo. _Shimogami University._ It was relaxing and calm there, surrounded with parks and outdoor areas. He was surprised when he smelt the salty breeze of the ocean, only a kilometer away.

“What does this university specialize in?” He asked Ikuya as they arrived in the lobby. He was still iffy that he hadn’t found anything that interested him too much. Ikuya had likely noticed it too, suggesting Hiyori different faculties the whole day.

“Let’s see.” Ikuya walked over to the information desk, taking a look at the programs of the university. “Looks like there’s a lot of natural sciences. Biology, history, chemistry, marine biology..”

“Wait.” He interrupted Ikuya, holding his wrist. “There’s marine biology?”

Ikuya seemed surprised but smiled amusedly. “Yeah, there is. Want to go see their laboratory?”

\-----

Ikuya was almost left behind as Hiyori walked so fast. They arrived at the faculty of marine biology and Hiyori eyed every little thing there. The laboratory was out of bounds (Hiyori still looked through the big glass windows), but there were books, some equipment and small aquariums in the rooms. The other students looked at the excited boy funny, but Hiyori didn’t even notice it.

“I heard this school has a really good swimming program too. I might just try to apply for it.” Ikuya teased as they finally walked out an hour later, having seen nothing but the marine biology faculty and the pool.

“I think you really should. It seems like a really nice school.” Hiyori answered, an excited but shy smile as he seemed to be thinking of something. Ikuya truly hoped that he had convinced Hiyori with this tour. Hiyori would pass the test for marine biology with flying colors if he tried and Ikuya knew his boyfriend would enjoy studying here. He actually liked the university too.

They ate lunch as the day was turning to an evening, but not yet over. Ikuya still had some things he wanted to show Hiyori.

“So, I have this idea..” He spoke, just having finished their lunch. “The uncle of one of my friends owns a real estate agency just here in Tokyo. They actually rent out a lot of apartments for students and they gave me the keys to look into a few of them. What do you think?”

He hoped the request didn’t make Hiyori too uncomfortable, that he was being too pushy, when Hiyori’s smile looked a bit forced.

“I don’t know. Do you think it’s necessary?” He fiddled with the straw of his soda, not looking at Ikuya.

“It’s fine if you feel this is too much. I just think that the idea of living here might not seem so scary if you’ve seen a bit of the reality of it. Kind of like, already conceptualizing yourself living here.” He stated carefully. He was only doing this to make Hiyori feel better, so it would’ve been counterproductive if he had to force the boy to go with him.

“If you think so, I agree with you.” Hiyori’s smile was more genuine again.

They had a few apartments to look at, but as they day was getting darker he decided to have the best first.

They traveled a few bus stops away, closer to the city again (but still not too far from Shimogami) and walked into a modern looking building in a quiet area.

They had to walk up the stair to the fifth floor, but it seemed worth it when Ikuya opened the door to the empty apartment.

If Hiyori had not been looking too excited about the idea earlier, now his face lit up as the evening sun shone on their faces from the big windows of the apartment. They walked in, not saying anything.

Ikuya looked around the well-equipped kitchen and a renovated bathroom. The apartment was nice, clean and quite big for just one tenant. He blushed when his brain decided to give him an image of him and Hiyori _sharing_ an apartment.

But Hiyori had not joined him. He had only taken quiet steps to the balcony door, opened it and stepped outside. And it wasn’t any surprise.

From the balcony, they could see a sliver of apartments, trees and parks, but they all were completely outshined by the vast ocean in the horizon. The waves glistened as the sun hit them and Ikuya was sure you could hear the waves crashing or at least feel the breeze of the sea in the air.

He walked over to the window too. He was almost blinded by the setting sun, but he could only stare at the back of his boyfriend, who looked like he had never seen the sun set over the ocean before.

Ikuya smiled to himself. Throgh the window he saw everything he wanted, a look into the future he was so desperately hoping to achieve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope there wasn't too much information stuffed into just one chapter, but I feel these scenes belonged together. Ikuya is really doing his everything to make Hiyori stay, no matter what his mother tells him :') And it seems Hiyori is also excited about all the possibilities his future on earth might entail ;)
> 
> It seems the chapters are only getting longer, but I've been having too much fun writing them!  
> I also finally decided on the chapter count while planning the rest of the chapters, though it might go up depending how long I want the chapters to be :)) I had planned this fic to be maybe 20K and 10 chapters, but now I'm almost already at 30K, that's wild. I'm very very excited about what's coming up, though xd
> 
> Thanks for everyone still reading and commenting! <3


	10. 17 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ikuya wanted to make Tokyo feel like a home for Hiyori. Next he needed to make sure Hiyori also had new people he could share the experiences with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soo early this week! Maybe you can tell that I only have a few more works and exams to go before the holidays!!
> 
> Enjoy!<3

A few days later Ikuya got a confirmation for the next part of his plan.

The last few days he and Hiyori had visited some of the sights in Tokyo after the day of visiting universities and apartments.The point wasn't to make Hiyori already choose anything, just show him the options, make living on earth and in Tokyo seem.. not so impossible.

Hiyori must have noticed how Ikuya had tried to cover showing Hiyori all the most important places and learning him to use the public transport during these days too. Hiyori had enjoyed it anyway as he had told Ikuya.

But Hiyori didn’t just need a safe place to live in, he needed safe people and friends he could trust.

That’s why Ikuya took him back into the city that day, to a small coffeeshop where Makoto, Haruka, Asahi and Kisumi had agreed to meet them.

He had been lucky that Haru and Makoto were also in the city this week, visiting the universities just like them. Ikuya had told them about his friend Hiyori who might be moving to Tokyo to study and how he wanted to introduce them to each other.

Ikuya was kind of excited about it too. He hadn’t seen his friends for a long time and he wanted them to meet Hiyori, if just this once.

This plan wasn’t something he could keep a secret from Hiyori, though, so he had suggested the idea to him the previous night.

“Are you sure?” Hiyori had asked him. “I don’t really need to meddle between you and your friends.”

Ikuya had reassured him that he wanted them to meet, it wasn’t just for Hiyori.

“But.. what if they think I’m weird or something?” Hiyori had looked so puzzled.

“Why would they think that?”

“I’ve.. I haven’t met any other humans beside you and your family. I don’t really know any topics or anything specific about your world. What if the ask me what my favorite movie is or something?”

Ikuya had just chuckled quietly to the adorable panic Hiyori was in. “I can always help you with stuff like that, don’t worry. They are also not the biggest movie fans or anything. Most of us are actually swimmers, so I think you will have a lot to talk about.” Ikuya held onto Hiyori a bit tighter.

“Really?” Hiyori seemed relieved. Ikuya had only answered him by giving him a kiss on his forehead, _the silly idiot._

But Hiyori was still very nervous when they walked to the café and inside it. It seemed all of his friends were already in the table and the café was empty. Asahi’s sister had apparently arranged them a private space for this, which he was really happy about. Not just Hiyori, but neither Ikuya really liked being in too crowded places.

Makoto was of course the first to spot them and give a greeting. Kisumi followed with just as much enthusiasm as Haru and Asahi stayed sitting around the table.

“You must be Toono-kun, then.” Makoto smiled softly. He was the one Ikuya counted on the most to make Hiyori feel comfortable and welcome in the company.

“Ehh? Why are everyone so tall?” Kisumi had complained but introduced himself cheerfully afterwards.

They took seats next to each other on the table as the rest of the introductions were changed between Hiyori, Asahi and Haru. As usual, Asahi was very energetic and friendly, although a bit temperamental sometimes, and Haru barely got his name out of his mouth. This wasn’t so easy for Haru either, Ikuya could see.

“So, your Ikuya’s friend? How do you know each other?” Bless the absolute angel, Makoto kept asking Hiyori questions while the others commented and told about themselves. He came up with topics where Hiyori could also join and the conversations seemed to flow easily, mostly between Makoto, Kisumi and Hiyori, who turned out quite talkative when given the chance.

In the meanwhile, Asahi’s sister had brought them some pasties and ice tea.

“I heard you visited some of the campuses. Did you get any ideas what you wanna study?” Makoto asked the both of them.

Ikuya mostly shrugged and talked briefly about the swimming programs. It got a nice reaction from Haru who almost spilled his soda at the mention of swimming.

“Well, I’m not so sure yet. I like natural sciences and I am a bit interested in marine biology, but I haven’t decided anything yet..” Hiyori stated, a slight embarrassment in his voice.

“Haru and I also went to see the universities. Though, I think Haru has already chosen.” Makoto laughed while other’s smiled at the flustered Haru.

“I just want to swim.”

“Oh, yeah, Ikuya mentioned you all swim, right?”

“I don’t!” Kisumi whined, while the other’s answered positively. “You swim too, Hiyori-kun?” Kisumi asked, making Hiyori even more embarrassed because of the use of his first name.

“I-I don’t, competitively. But I do really love swimming and would love to try joining the club.”

“Ehh? You should much rather join the basketball club, that’s what I wanna do!” Kisumi explained, while especially Asahi looked very much bored of hearing about it.

But Ikuya had to turn to Hiyori from Asahi and Kisumi's bickering, when the boy wasn’t answering. He looked uncomfortable and seemed to look everywhere else except at the occupants of the table.

“I-I..” He started to mumble, and Ikuya immediately took his hand under the table and swooped in.

“I think we once played it together, but I’d say Hiyori is much better a swimmer than a basketball player.” He intervened. Ikuya realized that Hiyori probably had never played basketball, if he even _knew_ the sport. And he had promised to help in situations where Hiyori became too overwhelmed.

“O-Oh, yeah. I’m not that good at it. It’s been so long I couldn’t even remember.” Hiyori rubbed the back of his head, playing along to Ikuya’s lie.

As Asahi continued the conversation by telling Kisumi how much ‘no one cared about basketball’, only making Kisumi grin, Hiyori looked at him fondly and squeezed his hand, giving him a silent ‘thank you’.

“Wait a minute.” Kisumi suddenly exclaimed, eyes fixed on Ikuya. _Okay, he had kind of feared this would happen,_ but he definitely had not considered Kisumi to be the first one to notice.

“Are you guys together?” He just let the question fill the silence as Hiyori’s eyes widened and cheeks flushed pink. Ikuya would have been just as surprised, and maybe a bit embarrassed for getting so much attention at the moment, if he hadn’t already prepared for the question. The only problem was that he had not prepared _Hiyori_ for the question.

“Umm..” Ikuya turned to look at his boyfriend, who consequently looked at him. They both looked quite shocked. Ikuya realized they had _never_ actually talked about whether they wanted their relationship to be public to anyone. Ikuya hadn’t even told Hiyori if he was out or not (luckily, he _had_ come out to his friends a few years ago, when he realized his attraction to Hiyori).

“You do realize not answering right away totally makes you look like you’re hiding something?” Even Asahi joined to feed the fire and Ikuya pouted at him.

“Wait, so hypothetically- if you _were_ together.." Kisumi grinned "This would be a triple date!” Kisumi cheered, looking way too excited.

“We’re not here on a date, I wanted you guys to just meet my friend, Hiyori.” He looked at his friends, who were clearly waiting for something more. “My boyfriend, Hiyori.”

His friends congratulated him and Hiyori, which was nice if he _didn’t_ wish tthe ground to swallow him.

“That’s wonderful! Toono-kun, you seem like a really great guy!” Makoto continued.

“T-Thanks.” Hiyori answered shyly. Ikuya hadn’t even seen how Hiyori reacted to revealing their relationship. “I-I’m actually really happy with Ikuya. He’s the most important person in my life right now and he really allows me to be myself, so.. I’m glad we chose to tell you.”

Hiyori hadn’t actually _chosen,_ but Ikuya felt relieved that Hiyori was fine with it. Then the rest of Hiyori's little speech sunk in his mind and he had to cover his face not to combust, as Kisumi aww’ed at them.

When he peeked from behind his hands, everyone was still staring at him. “I guess.. I’m really happy too.” Ikuya mumbled quietly.

Kisumi and Asahi just laughed at his embarrassment (maybe a bit because they were happy for him). Makoto just smiled softly. Hiyori seemed to grin widely beside him too, squeezing his hand more tightly and moving a bit closer to Ikuya. _Well, Hiyori had probably never come out to anyone_ , beside his own parents, so he deserved to show his affection to the world if he wanted to. Ikuya didn’t want to deny anything from the boy.

Haru had been the one Ikuya was most nervous about to introduce to Hiyori. Even right now, he narrowed his eyes at them, which could have meant anything, but probably that he was thinking about something. Makoto probably could know what he was thinking, but not Ikuya, not even after so many years. In some way, he still felt that Haru’s opinion of him and his choices in life mattered to him, even if they didn’t have to.

“How long have you known Ikuya?” Haru suddenly asked Hiyori and everyone else quieted. Makoto sighed quietly, like he had seen this coming.

“Umm.. since we were eight, though there were many years when we didn’t keep contact.” Hiyori looked a bit discouraged to admit it.

“And do you really plan to not do that again?” Haru’s voice was only getting tenser, though barely noticeably. Suddenly Ikuya remembered that he had talked to Haru about Hiyori when they were about 12 years old, telling him how Hiyori had just disappeared and left him. Though, Ikuya was very touched that Haru remembered, that he actually cared that Hiyori wouldn’t hurt Ikuya in that way again, he wasn’t sure how to feel about the interrogation, not when the topic was still so sensitive between them.

“I- Um.. I guess Ikuya told you about that then. Back then, I didn’t realize how important Ikuya was for me and I for him, and just thought it was the easy choice to make. Now that I realize how it hurt the both of us, no matter what happens I want to keep Ikuya in my life.” Hiyori wasn’t smiling but looked strained and sad.

“We have talked about that a lot.” Ikuya declared and the rest of them seemed to relax after the sudden tension.

“Then I believe you.” Haru looked at Hiyori when he said it, and continued to sip on his tea in front of him. Makoto gave them an apologetic smile, and soon continued the conversation, saying that ‘communication was the key to relationships’, obviously also jabbing at Haru with the same sentence.

The rest of their time went well until Ikuya and Hiyori were the first ones to leave in another hour.

“So what do you think? Are humans all that bad?” Ikuya smirked as he took Hiyori’s hand, trying to coax an honest answer from him.

“I’ve never thought that” Hiyori chuckled. “But they’re similar to us, well, obviously. But I’m surprised how easy it was to relate to them and delve into their worlds. You have great friends.” Hiyori smiled at him genuinely and earned a kiss on the cheek for that.

\----

With only one day left of their time together, Ikuya still had to reveal the secret he had talked about.

He took Hiyori back to the city that day. Hiyori could already recognize the skylines of the buildings as the bus drove the route towards the city.

The street Ikuya took him this time was a lot further from the streets that Hiyori already knew how to navigate.

The houses looked older, and fewer and fewer people roamed the streets. The shops on the streets seemed to be older too; bookshops, jewelers and a few flower shops here and there.

As Hiyori was still taking the silent streets in, Ikuya stopped them in front of a shop.

It looked closed, but there was still blue light coming in through the windows illuminating the many, many fish tanks in the shop. _It was an aquarium shop._

Hiyori wanted to ask what they were doing here, when the shop was clearly not even open, but Ikuya went and knocked before any words were changed between them. After a few silent seconds, the door was indeed opened before them and a man peeked outside.

“Ikuya- and Hiyori. Come in!” The man was maybe in his forties with black hair tied to the back. Hiyori had no idea who the man was and the man didn’t look like a Kirishima either.

The three walked silently through the shop, apparently to the back door. Hiyori looked at all the bright colors of the fish tanks. The fishes, jelly fish and crab that swam around the big tanks he saw everyday in his world, but here they looked so much more exotic, even if they were out of their typical environment. _Even these sea creatures had their own place on land._

Hiyori finally snapped out of looking at the tanks when he felt Ikuya’s soft hand hold onto his wrist. Hiyori turned to the boy who smiled at him warmly, beginning to lead Hiyori forward to the door.

He stepped inside what looked to be the back room of the shop but was suprisingly full of people. The room was big, music was playing and people were mingling with each other.

“Hiyori-kun, I’d like to welcome you to the Underwater Association.” The masses of people turned to them, and Hiyori looked around the room, not finding any familiar faces there. “We’re a small but tight group and we meet here at least once a month to just catch up. I own the shop back there, where I rescue and sell fish and other sea creatures. Ikuya here wanted to introduce us to you and we’re more than welcome to talk and help you with anything you want.” The man smiled at him, as a small girl ran to his side, climbing to her (presumable) father’s lap.

“Um.. I’m a bit confused right now. What is this all about?” Hiyori spoke as he turned to Ikuya and the room full of people looking at him.

The man looked at him funnily and began to laugh. “I see Ikuya really kept this a secret from you”, the man smirked brightly. “The Underwater Association is a group of former merpeople, now living on land. We keep in touch with each other to stay a bit more sane and so that we don’t forget where we come from. It’s nice to have some support in whatever situation or point of life your're in.”

Suddenly, Hiyori took another look of the people. There were families, people of every age, even some young people like him. Everyone had their own life stories, but for some reason they had all ended up here. They had all made the same choice Hiyori was still considering and _they had made it._

He couldn’t help the tears that formed in his eyes at the thought. But they only fell when Ikuya appeared in his vision too, asking him something he didn’t hear anymore.

“Ikuya told us you had some trouble deciding your life path. We would gladly answer any questions you have, and if you decide to stay, you will always be welcome here.”

“This is..” Hiyori “.. so wonderful.” Hiyori felt Ikuya take his hand again and lean into his side. He couldn’t help wanting to just embrace his boyfriend, but he was also too excited to find out more about these people.

“Don’t you wanna meet all these people?” Ikuya grinned at him, when Hiyori hadn’t let go of his hand yet. Hiyori smirked back and let the older man lead them both to introduce them to his family and other people.

He met the man’s his wife and two daughters. Apparently the man, Kondo-san had also met his wife when he was just 16 and made the decision to stay with her. He said that he realized his life was not in one place but with this other person and that he would have just followed the love of his life wherever she went.

There were also people, that Hiyori talked to, who just lived alone. They said their previous life as merpeople just didn’t fit them. Everyone said that they had found their own place here, even if at first it felt like a big change.

He met some young people too that had just started university or finishing it. They thought the most important thing was to have some kind of a social network to support through the huge change. Some of them had followed their significant others to this world, some had just been interested to life here. Hiyori even met one girl who said she wanted to live on earth just because she wanted to explore it so much. She said that she actually studied biology at the Shimogami University and told Hiyori how great a school it was.

He talked with the people for hours, Ikuya sometimes joining him, sometimes talking with others or just following Hiyori around. Hiyori hoped that Ikuya got some emotional support from the other partners of ex-merpeople too. He was glad that Ikuya was not alone in his experiences either.

They ate some food that the group had prepared and then bid their goodbyes. As they closed the door to the shop behind them, Hiyori let out a huge sigh, slumping on Ikuya’s shoulder.

“Are you exhausted?” Ikuya smiled and drew his hands through the brown wavy hairs.

“Yes, I very much am.” Hiyori sighed again. “But I had so much fun. How did you even find them?”

“Well, I had to dig around quite a lot. I was sure there needed to be a group like that, you couldn’t be the only one dealing with this. So I wrote about it on a forum and Kondo-san contacted me.” Ikuya continued.

Hiyori moved to wrap his hands around Ikuya’s shoulders. He had probably never felt so overwhelmed, so understood and so _loved._ It was somehow a completely new, scary feeling but it warmed his whole body.

“I’m speechless, Ikuya. I don’t know how I could ever repay you for all the things you’ve done for me.” He whispered into Ikuya’s shirt.

“You don’t have to. I do it because I care about you.” He twisted his arm to caress his hand up and down Hiyori’s back. “I was thinking we could go eat something. What do you want?”

“Would take-out be fine? I think I just want to rest for the evening.”

It seemed very fine to Ikuya, who began to lead them away from the shop. They got home, take -uts in a plastic bag which they ate with Ikuya’s mother who had just arrived too.

They curled up on the sofa under a blanket to watch a movie later that evening. Even if Ikuya had apparently never explicitly told any of his family members that they were dating, Ikuya’s mother kept giving Hiyori very knowing smiles as the boys sat glued to another, Ikuya’s head leaning on Hiyori’s shoulder. As she said good night, Hiyori thought it was safe to wrap his arm over the smaller boy too.

They decided to watch another movie too, though Ikuya seemed almost too tired to concentrate. Hiyori probably would have been too, but then Ikuya suggested they watch _The Little Mermaid_ , and Hiyori wondered if this was a part of his plan too. Ikuya smirked as he put the CD in and started the movie.

Hiyori knew about the book _The Little Mermaid._ He remembered how Ikuya had told him about it at the market in Shionezaki and that story wasn’t really something Hiyori wanted to see on his last day with Ikuya. But then the movie started with all the bright colors, the singing and the beautiful story of the red-haired mermaid, and Hiyori couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen.

Ikuya also seemed aware of the many similarities between Hiyori’s and the little mermaid's lives, pocking fun at him whenever he could.

“Your mother has changed the last time I saw her.” Ikuya said when the sea witch appeared on screen.

“I can’t believe they haven’t kissed already. They sang a whole song about it.” He smirked at the blushing Hiyori.

“Why can’t you get a dress like that when you change your form?” Ikuya referred to the sparkling glitter dress on the main character.

The movie unexpectedly ends happily and Hiyori feels his eyes brim with tears. Ikuya had been sleeping in and out of the movie, but now even he seemed alarmed when Hiyori’s shoulders shook under his cheek.

“Hey, are you okay?” He cupped Hiyori’s face with his hands.

“I didn’t think this movie was _this_ emotional. She even got her Happy Ever After and everything turned out fine.” Hiyori’s wavering voice whispered. “Why can’t it be so simple for me too?”

Ikuya wiped the tears from Hiyori’s cheeks as his boyfriend’s eyes met his.

“Because your life is not a movie, Hiyori. But you can still make your _own_ happy ending.”

Hiyori stared at him for a while, until he grinned brightly again, the tears still not stopping.

“You’re right.” He sniffled. Ikuya didn’t let go of his face but leaned over, bringing Hiyori face closer so that nothing else could distract them.

Hiyori leaned in first, lips brushing Ikuya’s like it had been an eternity from the last time. Ikuya responded by cupping his face even tighter, moving to a rhythm they set for the kisses.

Real magic only existed in movie.: Hiyori’s life wasn’t in any way usual but there was no magic, no fairy god mothers or magic wishes that granted him anything he wanted. Even if he barely believed in magic, Hiyori could never find anything more magical than the moments he spent with Ikuya like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added another chapter into the count, because this chapter was getting way too long for what I had planned xdd
> 
> So here you go, have a it more fluff! We're getting closer to the end anyway! Next time we'll see their last day together before Hiyori finally turns 18 and decides what he wants from the future :))))
> 
> Thank you for reading and commenting!<3


	11. 17 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They had left just some minutes ago from the Tokyo station back to Shionezaki, and Ikuya had been holding onto Hiyori's hand the whole time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mind the warning tags for this chapter!
> 
> Without spoiling, there is an accident and then afterwards discussion of the accident and previous trauma. More accurate warnings in the End Notes!
> 
> Enjoy! <3

Hiyori looked sad when the last buildings of Tokyo disappear beyond the windows of the bus and the scenery changed from urban to rural.

They had left just some minutes ago from the Tokyo station back to Shionezaki, and Ikuya had been holding onto Hiyori's hand the whole time.

It had been encouraging to see Hiyori accustom to Tokyo, its people and atmosphere. Every day when Ikuya introduced him to new sights, new people and new experiences, Hiyori relaxed more and more. Ikuya could teel how well he fit into this world. Hiyori could slip into Ikuya’s life in Tokyo so easily, like he’d always been there.

Ikuya had done everything in his capabilities to reassure his boyfriend of the life above the waves. He had no plans left anymore, only to enjoy and keep Hiyori calm for the last day they spent together. Unfortunately, the day started with a three-hour bus drive back to the sea.

Ikuya had at least asked his dad to make them some dinner, knowing that Hiyori probably just wanted to stay home after the action-filled days in Tokyo. Apparently Natsuya had returned from America too and was going to pick them up from the bus station. Ikuya found that out when he stepped out of the bus and was immediately scooped up by the big brother in question.

“How was your trip?” Natsuya asked, when they had loaded the car with their bags and were on their way home. No matter how Hiyori might resist, it was _his_ home too.

“It was nice.” Ikuya said plainly, but hid his smile as he leaned his hand onto the window.

“Aww, that’s all you're going to say? Hiyori-kun, please elaborate!” Natsuya glanced at the spectacled boy from the rear-view mirror.

“It was really amazing. I met Ikuya’s friends and we went to see universities. And your mother was so nice for letting me stay with you.” Hiyori answered, though leaving most of their plans unsaid.

“Oh, man, I wish I could’ve been there too! But next time, then?” He looked at Hiyori, questioningly. Ikuya recognized the mischievous glint in Natsuya’s eyes. It revealed that Natsuya must have noticed the melancholic atmosphere and.. probably had just heard from their dad how much Ikuya had invested in this week, how unordinary much he had planned this week. He probably just worried that Hiyori would still stay in their lives. 

“Sure. That’d be great.” Hiyori smiled and turned to look out of the window too. Ikuya couldn’t help tensing his muscles at the clearly not-genuine answer and the way Natsuya kept glancing over at Ikuya.

Their dad _had really_ prepared a whole dinner for them with traditional Japanese dishes Hiyori had told he had never tried before. Ikuya couldn’t count the times Hiyori tasted something during the dinner, only for his eyes to glow brighter as he complimented the food over and over. It was nice; Ikuya was more comfortable in his own home when Hiyori was with him, answering the many questions from his father and entertaining him by listening to all the news he talked about, laughing at Natsuya’s jokes and asking about his life in America, all the while making sure Ikuya was still comfortable and was included into the conversations.

Their dad insisted that he and Natsuya clear the table, shooing Ikuya and Hiyori out of the kitchen.

As they a bit awkwardly stood in the living room, not knowing what to do next, Ikuya finally suggested something.

“Want to take a walk?”

The evening darkened already when they got out of the house. Hiyori clearly was just following where Ikuya took them as Ikuya pondered their options. A bit to both of their surprise he turned to the road taking them away from the sea. He _didn’t_ want to lay his eyes on that vast body of water right now.

Instead, they walked further from the town until the houses grew fewer and rice fields took over the landscape.

“It’s really pretty tonight.” Hiyori looked somewhere far away as they walked a bit further from each other than usual. He seemed to take everything in very carefully, the fields, the setting sun and the sounds of nature there, and Ikuya didn’t like it. He wanted those beautiful eyes on _him._

“Hiyori..” He started guiltily, both of them knowing why they came here for. “I want to know what you’re thinking.”

Hiyori sighed and finally turned to Ikuya, blocking the setting sun behind his back.

“I think.. I’m happy.” He smiled.

“Happy about what?” Ikuya cocked his eyebrow.

“I don’t know. I just feel happy.. and calm.” He drew Ikuya closer to him. “But I do think you’re the reason for it, though. You and everything you’ve done for me, everything we’ve experienced together.” He tore his eyes from Ikuya’s face and looked at the strands of hair instead that he placed away from Ikuya’s forehead.

“So.. I make you happy?” Ikuya felt shy- he didn’t think he’d ever heard Hiyori say something like that. Hiyori was always cheerful and positive, but _was he happy?_ Ikuya only wished that hiyori really had been happy, spending the many summers with him.

“Yeah, you do.” He smiled and turned his eyes to Ikuya’s lips now.

“Would you be happy if you stayed with me?” The simple question of ‘ _are you going to stay with me’_ was hidden inside the question Ikuya said out loud. Hiyori’s brows furrowed for just a moment as he thought the question over.

“I would." He paused "..And I think I _will_ be happy with you.” Hiyori’s eyes looked pleading, unsure, like he wasn’t sure how Ikuya would answer. But getting the confirmation for the important question he had been dying to ask for weeks.. _how could he answer with anything but overwhelming happiness._

Ikuya almost jumped onto Hiyori’s chest, tying his arms tight around the boy. Neither of them said anything, just stayed close and let the day move on. If this was real- _if Hiyori was going to choose him and stay-_ then _time_ wasn’t an enemy anymore.

“You make me so happy too.” Ikuya whispered and clung onto his boyfriend even tighter, not knowing where his limbs ended and Hiyori’s began. He grinned into Hiyori's shoulder, almost teary and Hiyori relaxed on his arms too. 

They walked back in an almost silence, holding hands, while Ikuya tried to reassure him about their future plans ( _together_!) but still vague enough not to scare Hiyori away.

When they went to sleep in a few hours, Ikuya still kept close to Hiyori. He sensed that Hiyori was still doubtful and quiet, maybe scared of the whole situation. Ikuya didn’t worry about it though, because he felt how Hiyori relaxed when he drew circles in his back, kissed his cheeks and traced his fingers on Hiyori’s lips, jaw and hair.

They would talk more in the morning. Ikuya was too tired to do anything else anymore than to fall asleep on Hiyori’s arms, smiling to himself as he could finally breathe freely again, after many years.

He felt the same smile still on his lips when he woke up. The bed was warm and comfortable, but the illusion was broken by the trickling of a light rain outside. That and the fact that he was alone.

His smile soon fell from his lips as he sat up and still didn’t see Hiyori anywhere. It wasn’t usual; Ikuya had woken up to Hiyori still snoring and sleeping like a log every day for the past week. _Maybe he should’ve been more worried about Hiyori yesterday._

He looked out into the hallway and the bathroom, just waiting to find an anxious Hiyori hiding away somewhere. It was no use and just as he was about to start shouting for Hiyori in the back yard, he noticed the small note on his desk.

Ikuya immediately felt his heart jump to his throat. This wasn’t just some casual note of ‘I went to the store’, _not in the situation they were in._

He opened the folded paper and it dropped from his hands just as swiftly as he run to ask his dad about it.

_I’m sorry, I will find a way._

The sorry note was left on the floor of Ikuya’s room, laughing and mocking him for letting his guard down.

“Dad!” Ikuya shouted to his father at the back yard where the parent was putting away laundry from the seeping but not yet pouring rain. “Have you seen Hiyori?”

“Oh, I saw him leave maybe half an hour ago. I thought you went with him. Is everything alright?” Ikuya’s heart sped up more and more as he ran to change and put his shoes on, not even answering his father at first.

When he came back downstairs just a minute later, his father was at the door. “Hey, what happened?”

“I have to find Hiyori. He left without saying anything and I don’t know where he went.” He almost panted from the rising panic and from running around the house.

“Oh no. Do you need help? It will start raining very soon, so at least take a jacket and don’t be out for too long.”

“I’m fine, I think I have an idea where he might be.” _And that's what I'm most scared of,_ Ikuya thought to himself.

Just as many times before, Ikuya ran the familiar road to the beach. Somewhere behind him, a thunder roared and the rain was only getting heavier. When Ikuya arrived to the beach he was already soaking wet.

It was hard to see beyond a few meters in front of him as the clouds darkened the sky and the rain poured into his eyes. Nevertheless, Ikuya ran to the pier.

“HIYORI!” He had hoped to have found the boy on the beach; he didn’t want to lose hope yet _._ Hiyori had _promised_ him, they had already talked everything out, _why was he still so unsure?_

The only way Ikuya could interpret the note was that Hiyori had changed his mind. _Maybe Ikuya had pushed him away, maybe he’d been too intimidating, even forcing._ And now Hiyori had decided to leave him and not come back. He said he’d find a way, but there was no way, no life for the two of them together if Hiyori stayed a merman. Sooner or later it would all crumble and they’d lose each other again.

_He couldn’t let that happen._

Ikuya shouted a few more times, looking around the beach to make sure he wasn’t there. The waves grew bigger and bigger, crashing to the pier and the rocks surrounding them. It was like the whole sea was as desperate as him, but trying to keep Hiyori away from him just as desperately as Ikuya wanted to find him.

_Maybe Hiyori could hear him if he shouted into the water_ , was the first and only plan he came up with, already starting to shiver from the coldness in his limbs and heart. Maybe he just needed to connect with the water, _Hiyori would know. Hiyori would come back if he felt him._

Without thinking about it more, Ikuya took a step into the rocks, away from the pier. He just needed to skip onto one that was lower, closer to the water and he could submerge his hands in the sea. He stepped again, almost slipping but maintaining his balance on the slippery rocks. He just needed one more step to get to the water.

He made it. He crouched just enough to wet his hands and stared at them, not even able to see the bottom of the ocean anymore. He had swam here countless of times; he knew the sea wasn’t too deep at these parts of the beach. But still the dark water scared him more than ever.

“Please, come back.” Ikuya almost sobbed as a huge wave hit the boulders where he stood.

He lost his balance in panic and suddenly he couldn’t breathe, only seeing light coming from somewhere above the surface as everything faded to black.

\-----

The ocean was as restless as him. Hiyori had always been good at telling when a storm was coming, even if they felt very different under the waves.

He never liked the stormy days when everything underwater was dark and cold. He usually just stayed inside with his parents at the small house they had built from rocks and plants, waiting for the sunlight to peek behind the clouds and into the sea again.

He swam away as fast as he could; he wanted to be alone.

He felt like a coward, hell, _he was a coward_. He had promised himself and Ikuya to work things out, that he’d come back, but the way he’d phrased that note… He didn’t know if Ikuya even wanted him back when he had once again left him without asking.

He didn’t have a plan, he was just scared. _Did he even have a choice, he couldn't survive here alone. Ikuya was the reason he wanted to stay, but could he do that to Ikuya? Ikuya's whole life would be jsut taking care of him_.

So, he needed to get away, not to exploit Ikuya's kindness anymore. If he had seen Ikuya’s smile or felt his touch just one more time, he would’ve broken down. So, he decided to run away, again, from the person that still was his safe heaven in life. _It didn’t make any sense._

He stopped swimming as he thought it over. _It really was completely irrational. Was he making the biggest mistake of his life? Could he really live with this choice?_

Before he could answer himself, something else stopped him. It was a thought, quiet but so powerful it sent a shiver down his whole body.

_Please, come back_.

Hiyori realized it wasn’t a thought at all, it was _Ikuya_. Why was Ikuya inside his head?

Suddenly a huge wave of something unpleasent, cold and upsetting crashed over him. It felt like it was coming somewhere within him, but it wasn’t. The water felt too cold too, repulsive. There was something very wrong and the sea felt it too.

The last warmth drained from his body and he felt so.. _alone._ The way he felt when Ikuya wasn’t with him, when he felt that he wasn't connected to Ikuya.

Then, a realization struck him. He had _felt_ Ikuya in the water, Ikuya had tried contacting him and then.. the connection disappeared. _Oh no._

Hiyori turned around as fast as he could and made his way back to shore.

\------

The next time Ikuya woke up, it was like coming out of a deep trance. He wasn’t sure whether the white ceiling and the white sheets he saw were part of a dream or reality, but the situation was still the same as the last time he had woken up. He was alone.

He didn’t have a lot of time to look around him, to try and piece the puzzle that were his memories, when the door to the plain, white room opened.

He had a very serious feeling of déjà vu, when Natsuya and his father walked in.

They fussed over him like usual, even if Ikuya still wasn’t sure what he was doing here- he was clearly at a hospital. When he finally got his time to speak and ask what was going on, his father and Natsuya looked like he had hit his head- which he apparently had.

“You slipped on the beach and hit your head to the rocks yesterday. You slept the whole day too. The doctors checked you and you only have a mild concussion that they want to keep checking on. You can come home tomorrow.”

Ikuya could recall the sound of rain, his shivering muscles and the smell of the sea from the time of the accident. He also remembered the previous morning and how he had tried to find Hiyori who was probably long gone now. _He had just ruined everything and even put himself in danger because of it._

“I’m feeling fine, though. I don’t really like staying at hospitals,” all of them understood why. When Ikuya had to stay at the hospital in America, the young child had always cried or sobbed when his family left, telling them that he didn’t want to be alone.

“You almost drowned, Ikuya, and not even for the first time!” Natsuya raised his voice, and of course he was frustrated and scared about the situation too.

Ikuya remembered the first time he had almost drowned in America. The moment it happened wasn’t scary actually, but the aftermath, being lifted from the pool, still unable to breathe, rushed to the hospital and having to stay there all alone with his thoughts.. that was much scarier. Even now he was feeling calm, only confused. He must have lost consciousness pretty soon after slipping.

“I was almost going mad when Hiyori-kun called us from the hospital!” Natsuya had continued.

The name caught his ears, it would have probably woken him up from a coma.

“Hiyori? Hiyori was here?” Ikuya was shocked.

His father and Natsuya looked at each other. “Ikuya.” His father started. “Hiyori saved you. He brought you here and told us what happened.”

Suddenly, Ikuya’s head was flooded with glimpses of the storm. He saw something green flickering in the water, he remembers being dragged to shore and carried in someone’s arms.

_Hiyori had saved his life._ And still, Ikuya didn’t even know if he had a chance to thank him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:   
> briefly described how Ikuya slips on some rocks on the beach and loses conciousness in the water. Later the incident is discussed by Ikuya, his father and Natsuya. Ikuya also recalls the time he once before almost drowned in America and how it made him feel. Mentions of drowning!
> 
> Okay, I needed just a bit more of angst and something very unexpected before the finale ;) Even if Hiyori's still a bit unsure, maybe he will finally think more and realize what he really wants! :) 
> 
> Phew, we're almost at the end, you guys :))!! I finally have Christmas holidays and more time to write, so hopefully I'll finish writing the fic during the week!  
> I was thinking if publishing the last 2 chapters on Saturday and Sunday, or on Sunday and Monday, since the last chapter will just be an epilogue :)
> 
> I'll be back with you soon! Thanks for all the kudos and comments!<3


	12. 18 years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ikuya left the hospital the next morning. This time his visit was much more pleasant than the other ones. Th reason was probably that he basically slept through most of it and the rest of the time he only kept thinking of the incident

Ikuya left the hospital the next morning. This time his visit was much more pleasant than the other ones. Th reason was probably that he basically slept through most of it and the rest of the time he only kept thinking of the incident.

“Hiyori said that you found him at the beach after you stormed out of the house." His father had explained the story back to him. "You were on the pier and, I think, argued over something. Hiyori was really vague about that. You climbed onto the rocks but then slipped and fell into the water. Hiyori jumped in as soon as he could and brought you back to shore and to the hospital.”

That’s how Hiyori had explained the situation. Ikuya knew it was just a cover story and not the truth, but it _could have been_ if only Hiyori hadn't already ran away and left him alone.

But he still had many questions his father couldn’t answer about Hiyori. For once, _Hiyori had come back._ He had actually saved Ikuya from the water and brought him to the hospital that day. Not that doubted for a second that Hiyori wouldn’t help him when he was in danger, but it was more incredible that the boy had _found_ him. And Ikuya had no idea _how._

This didn’t really mean anything in the end, was what Ikuya concluded after a night of thinking. Hiyori had saved him, helped him, but it probably didn’t change how he thought about their relationship and what choice he was going to make. _Maybe it would be good to have a guardian angel in the sea, making sure that he never drowned._ That was a depressing thought.

“Did he say anything? Did he leave right after he brought me here?” Ikuya had asked from his father the day before.

“No, he.. stayed the whole night I think. The nurses said they saw him leave early in the morning and were really confused because they thought he’d wait for you to wake up.”

Ikuya’s eyes widened at information. Again, it wasn’t unusual, they were in lo- they were in a relationship, but why couldn’t Hiyori just stay until Ikuya had woken up? _Hiyori must have still been avoiding him_ , which didn’t feel great.

“When Natsuya and I came in, Hiyori let us be here alone, but he returned some time later and sat with us until we went home. We tried to invite him over to sleep too, but he refused. We.. did try to ask him more about situation, but.. it wasn’t that easy. Hiyori was clearly very upset about what happened. If I know the boy at all, I’d say he blamed himself for it.” Ikuya gasped quietly, because _that_ was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want Hiyori's guilt to affect their future or choices. He tried to defend, but his father continued. “I know what you want to say, and I did tell him. I said to him that he’s the _hero_ in this situation, he shouldn’t feel guilty at all. I hope it helped, he looked more calm agter that.But I also doubt I heard wrong when I heard sniffling coming from inside the room before we entered. This must be really hard for you but I’m really worried about you two and I’d hope you could.. enlighten me just a bit? If you want to.”

For the first time that day, after waking up, Ikuya had smiled just slightly. He had always reckoned his father an excellent parent but no one asked him to take care of Ikuya’s friends or partners too. He actually did it _without asking._ Ikuya could really imagine that his father’s words had helped Hiyori deal with the accident a lot and he had never felt more grateful.

If there was anything Ikuya could do to give something back for him for everything his father had done for them over the years, he’d do it. And well, his father had clearly just indicated what he wanted: to be a part of Ikuya’s life again.

“Hiyori and I.. are together, like in a relationship.” He glanced over to his father, who only nodded understandingly, fortunately not commenting that ‘he knew it’ like Ikuya could imagine Natsuya say.

Ikuya continued. “Like you can maybe guess, Hiyori’s life is very strict and he’s sometimes.. lonely, because he lives so far away and is not really able to keep in contact with anyone.” That was the cover story they had decided on, and it worked well for their real situation too. “But here Hiyori is happy, he said it so himself. I know he’s happy in our home, he likes you and mom and Natsuya. And he’s happy with me. So, I’ve been trying to convince him to move here, to Tokyo actually. He could apply to the university there and I know he’d get in. and I want him there. But Hiyori’s just not sure enough to make a decision about it and it’s been frustrating us both for very long. I wanted to show him around Tokyo that he’d get used to it, but we still fight over the issue.

Maybe it doesn’t sound like much, but I really… care about him. And we both know that if he stays at his home town, we’re not going to last. I’m just really torn between encouraging him to listen to what he really wants and forcing him to choose what I want him to choose.” He finished and only then looked over at his father.

His father was almost in tears, which made Ikuya panic at first, but he was calmed down by the warm smile and head pats he received next.

“When did you grow up so fast?” He swiped the not-yet-fallen tears. “That’s a very mature way of thinking, Ikuya. And I’m really glad you’ve been able to talk about it with Hiyori. Wow, I don’t really know what you _should_ do, but I’m glad you told me. But I’d say you just gotta keep fighting and talk to Hiyori about it when you get the chance. I assume you still have a lot you haven’t said.”

Ikuya wasn’t sure what exactly his father meant, but how was he able to read Ikuya's mind so well, he didn’t know. There _was_ still something he needed to tell Hiyori. He’d swim to find him himself if he had to, because it was that important, _vital_ even.

“..but that’s the thing. I’m afraid Hiyori ran away from me again and I’ll never see him again, that’s what it looks like to me.”

“Maybe you should trust Hiyori a bit more, he’s very smart too. I don’t think he’d run away, not after all these years I’ve seen him grow, and you too. And also…” His father looked a bit uncertain. “I talked to Hiyori a lot yesterday and there’s something he said that left me wondering. When I asked him why he left the house morning without saying anything, he said that he didn’t know anymore. He said that he first left because he was scared and angry at himself, but then.. when he saw you still running after him and then seeing you in danger.. he felt something he had never felt before. Like a deeper connection, I think, something that apparently wouldn’t ever leave him no matter how much tried to run away.Those were his words. So, I don’t think Hiyori will just forget about you.” He smiled warmly, a bit of smirk mixed into it.

Ikuya didn’t know how to interpret the words. It only sounded to him like his plan at the sea had worked. _He had been able to reach Hiyori and Hiyori had answered him._

A grin spread on Ikuya's face too, suprising his father. Usually he’d just scoff or tell his dad to stop saying embarrassing things, but he felt.. happy, hopeful. _Yes, there was still hope,_ that Ikuya was sure of now.

He slowly reached to hug the old man sitting next to his bed. His father reciprocated just a moment later, wrapping his arms around Ikuya’s smaller frame like he hadn't done in years.

And now Ikuya walked out of the doors of the hospital. He looked around to the city somewhere beyond the streets and the sunny sky that had no sign of the passed storm.

He had a whole year. He knew Hiyori wouldn’t contact him and maybe that was good; Ikuya had his own entrance exams, possibly moving out, his swimming practice to focus on.

But the year didn’t seem such a long time anymore, Ikuya had endured the time apart many times before. If he had to, he’d wait even longer, he’d wait for years at a time just for a short moment with Hiyori, if that meant he'd then never need to let go again.

\-----

Ikuya sort of hoped he never needed to come to that beach again. It reminded him too much of the moments spent there and brought up too many positive and negative feelings every time.

But here he was once again, hopefully for the last time.

In all the years he’d spent waiting for Hiyori, the last year was one of the easiest.

This year Ikuya had just focused on himself. Not to say that he hadn’t thought of Hiyori first thing every morning and last thing every night, but he the in-between was reserved for himself.

He had used a lot of time swimming. It kept his head and goals clear. He had become second on the Inter-High tournament, only beaten by Haru of course. His both parents had been there to support him and he felt that swimming was easier now than in years.

He had studied a lot too. Apparently just your good talent in swimming couldn’t sign you in to a university. But it helped that he had been nominated for a swimming diploma at the Shimogami University and he had only needed to pick a major and pass that test.

Just 2 weeks ago had he gotten the results and an acceptance letter for Shimogami University, Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology. The program was about body movement, muscles and the human body, so when he read for the exams, a lot of it was already familiar from swimming.

He had kind of wished this day never came. He really had gotten a lot of things in his life in order this year and he knew that today would either crush it or improve it. It had been quiet easy to be without Hiyori when he knew he couldn’t do anything about it anymore and that there was still a chance. But the chance would disappear if Hiyori had decided not to return.

He walked to the beach quietly, no thoughts in his head. He had worried about it for a long time before the day, but now the rising sun and the sea air just made him feel serene. He knew he’d wait the whole day if he had to anyway, so he arrived early in the morning, like many times before.

Ikuya would have gone to sit on the pier like usual if there wasn’t already a figure sitting on the beach when he arrived. The boy sat on sand, toes almost touched by the slowly rolling waves, next to the big rocks.

The scene before Ikuya made him pause. He wanted to run to Hiyori, to scoop him up into his arms and kiss his lips raw, but Hiyori looked so calm, almost unmoving as he stared at the ocean.

He walked up to Hiyori silently, and just when he sat down next to him, did he notice that Hiyori was crying.

_Hey, are you okay?_

Ikuya remembered the first words he spoke to the boy, 10 years ago. They fit this moment too, but they didn’t feel right.

“Are you lost?” He then softly asked. They both slowly turned to each other, ripping their eyes away from the entrancing waves in the sea. Hiyori sniffled but soon he started laughing, at the familiarity and absurdity of the situation, and Ikuya joined with a quiet giggle.

It was weird that it had only been a year, when Ikuya felt he had grown so much during it. But he couldn’t deny the familiarity of Hiyori, even if he felt very distant in some way. Maybe they really couldn’t go back anymore, not to the way they were.

“I- I don’t know. I don’t _think_ I am.” Hiyori smiled to Ikuya, swiping some of the tears from under his glasses. Silence descended on them again. “Are you?”

“Not really. I think I’ve found a path in life that I want to follow, so no.” Ikuya answered.

“Oh?” Hiyori already looked enlivened. He brought his knees to his chest, ready to listen to what Ikuya had to say. “What did you decide, Ikuya?”

Of course, he wanted to ask _Hiyori_ that. Thought maybe he wanted to say what was on his mind first, then he couldn’t back down anymore: he would just have to accept the results.

“I want to swim. _That_ I’ve known for a long time already. But it seems I still need to finish schools before I can start training professionally, so I applied for the swimming program in Shimogami University and they accepted me in it. I’ll also start Kinesiology in a few months at the same university. So, I’ll mostly be tied to Tokyo for the next 5 years.” He managed a shy smile.

“You’re amazing, Ikuya.” Hiyori turned fully to him now, neither of them still not confident enough to break the wall between them and touch the other. “Congratulations, I’m so happy for you.” Hiyori smiled warmly at him. If he was amazing, then Hiyori was probably a god of some sort.

“Thanks.” He smiled back. “I know it’s not going to be easy, to become a professional swimmer and all, but I really want it. It’s scary how much. And I think it’s a path that _you_ lead me to. Maybe you don’t see it, but everything I’ve done has been because you’ve supported me. I could have never done this alone, I don’t think I would’ve had the courage.”

When Ikuya glanced at him, Hiyori looked worried, contemplating. “Ikuya..”

“I know you saved me last year, the day you left. And if it wasn’t for that and the courage you’ve given me, I couldn’t be here today and telling you this.” He finally reached to place his palm on Hiyori’s cheek, making him look and feel the next words, the thought he had been sure of for months.

“I love you. You are the most important thing in my life and it’ll always stay that way. You make me fight for what I want and also not feel so bad if I don’t succeed on the first try. I’ve been saved by you so many times, even before last year, and I love you so much. I want to share this path I've chosen with _you_.” Ikuya almost contained the waver in his voice but seeing Hiyori start sniffling again- there was no point in even trying.

“But whatever you've chosen, I’ll be happy with my life now that I’ve told you this.” Ikuya finished. “What’s your path, Hiyori?”

Hiyori lifted his teary eyes back to Ikuya, placing his hand on top of the one on his cheek. “I’m really thankful you told me this, Ikuya. It’s.. really unbelievable that you care so much for me. I really never thought myself deserving of you, it’s been like a dream for me.” He squeezed the hand holding onto him. The words travelled straight into Ikuya’s heart, squeezing at the strings there, making him almost breathless. _He didn’t want to let go._

“I was so scared for so long, scared to live my own life. But just like you said, I was able to find something meaningful to me when you guided me and encouraged me. And that’s why..” He took a deep breath. “.. I wanted to do something on my own, to show you, my parents and everyone that I’m capable of it. So, I got permission to take the entrance test for marine biology in Tokyo.” Ikuya audibly gasped and his eyes widened. “.. and I got accepted to Shimogami University and I’m going to be moving to Tokyo in just a few weeks now.”

Ikuya just stared for a while, letting the first tears fall from his eyes. Hiyori smiled at him unsure and waited for his reaction.

“You IDIOT!” Ikuya yelled before he crashed his lips with Hiyori’s. The taller boy hugged him back just as hard and desperate as they tried to pour all the overwhelming love into each other through the kisses and touches shared between them.

Ikuya didn’t know how long he held onto the boy until they parted finally. His cheeks were already tracked with happy tears, his lips red from the many kisses and mind almost hazy from joy.

It wasn’t all hopeless anymore. Ikuya’s life had seemed so at some points: when he had almost drowned in America, when his parents had divorced or when Hiyori had told him they couldn’t be together forever. For some reason all these problems felt so little at that moment. Maybe it was because he knew now that he’d never have to face any hardships alone.

The only things he needed to worry about was where he and Hiyori would go to next.

“So, you’re going to stay here?” He stayed as close to Hiyori as he could, hands intertwined and foreheads pressed together.

“Well, I need to go back home today to finish all the preparations for the change. I just came here to tell you, because I knew you waited for me.” He caressed Ikuya’s cheek, voice warmer than Ikuya had ever heard it.

“So, when do you come back?” Ikuya was anxious to start the preparations for their life too. He had not wanted to dream too much, but he had imagined this outcome in his dreams.

It was the same picture Ikuya had already seen a year ago: he and Hiyori attending the same university, having lunch dates, study dates and going swimming together at the school. They’d visit each other’s apartments as often as they could, often staying over and spending as much time together as possible. Now that it _was_ possible, Ikuya wouldn’t even mind moving in together to maximize the time.

But maybe they still needed to first try and adjust to the new life that was still so unknown for both of them.

“I’ll be back in a few days when everything’s done.” Hiyori smiled, and there was no reason not to believe his words.

“I’ll be waiting.”

\-----

Ikuya sat on the couch of his father’s, suffering for another hot July day. The heat wave had lasted for several days now, ever since he and Hiyori talked at the beach.

He missed Hiyori, after only 5 days, but knowing that Hiyori was coming back made the pain in his heart softer.

His father had went out shopping that afternoon, leaving Ikuya alone to rest on the couch and fan himself with a newspaper in shorts and a t-shirt. He had told his father how Hiyori would be moving to Tokyo in just a few weeks and that he’d stay with them until then. Of course, his father had been nothing but delighted about the idea.

The cicadas outside broke the silence inside the house. These sort of moments, when he was alone, calm and no one would bother him, he _always_ thought of Hiyori.

He thought what his life would be like without the boy. If he had only decided to not talk to him on that day 10 years ago. _Would they have found the happiness in life that they found in each other?_

Ikuya smiled when he realized he ddn't need to think about somehitng like that- he was happy now and so was Hiyori, that was all that mattered. They had already made the choices to stay with each other and now they only had to keep choosing that. And it was a lot easier when they finally had all the time in the world to do so.

Even the cicadas quieted when the front door opened. Ikuya didn’t move at first but he did listen to the sounds of the door opening and closing, waiting for his father to announce his arrival from the store.

But then he heard his own name in a voice he had not expected but never forgotten, and he was up.

He leaped onto the hallway, only to find Hiyori standing at the door, a few bags in his hands and the same old clothes and glasses on him. But, this time he didn’t smell like the sea anymore, though.

Before anything else was said, Ikuya jumped onto him and buried his face in his neck, holding tight and not having to ask Hiyori to do the same. Hiyori smelt of something different now, more like the fresh nature after a rain than the salty sea.

He felt so small in Hiyori’s arms and he loved it. In these arms, he’d never feel lost again, _this_ was where he belonged.

Hiyori only hugged him tighter until he whispered to Ikuya’s hair.

“I’m home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yess, finally! I've been really waiting to finish these last chapters and now we only have the epilogue left!
> 
> All of this was pretty much new and not super strictly edited because I ran out of time, but I still really like some of the dialogue's in it :) I hope it really conveys that they were always going to choose each other in the end, they just needed the courage and support from each other to really be able to be together and admit their weaknesses and fears, which only made them stronger (what a cliche tho ;))  
> I also really liked how supportive Ikuya's dad is, and I wanted to show through their relationship how much Ikuya's really grown because of Hiyori and learned to open up more!  
> But anyway, hope you liked it and this was a worthy end to their story!
> 
> Thank you everyone who's continued reading this far and left comments and kudos! <3 I'll hope to publish the epilogue in a few days :)


	13. 24 years

_**Epilogue** _

The soft but rich smell of coffee filled the kitchen as Hiyori poured himself a cup. His mornings always went by with a certain routine, starting with a cup of coffee. _How would have known the earth had something so addicting?_

After years of uncertainty and change, his daily routines were one of his favorite things in his life: wake up, change clothes, coffee and breakfast, preparing for the day’s classes and a short moment to cuddle with his fiancée. Needless to say, _the latter was his favorite part._

Hiyori poured another cup next to his.

Since the rest of the day wasn’t going to go according to his normal routine, it gave Hiyori even more the reason to treasure the mornings by himself until his fiancée woke up in a few moments.

Like he was summoned by Hiyori’s thoughts of him, Ikuya quietly walked to the kitchen from their shared bedroom and rested his head on Hiyori’s shoulder.

“You’re up earlier than usual.” Hiyori laughed quietly. _Usual_ normally meant Ikuya waking up just before Hiyori left for his morning classes, hurrying out of the apartment in 15 minutes for his morning training by the pool.

Ikuya just grunted in his arms, pulling Hiyori closer to him. It gave Hiyori a good opportunity to start the morning cuddles early, rewarding Ikuya with a kiss on the forehead first.

“Are you nervous?” Ikuya breathed into his neck. Judging from Ikuya’s behavior it seemed _Hiyori_ wasn’t the one more worried about his first day at a new job.

“No, I’m just excited. And today the employers will just be showing me around, there’s nothing to worry about.” Hiyori answered, smoothing out Ikuya’s bed head and reaching to give him the other coffee cup.

Ikuya seemed to relax and took the cup to the table where they both sat down.

The morning sun lit up their kitchen just like it had every morning for the past three years.

The first apartment Hiyori had rented out when he first moved to Tokyo had been big but not very well-lit. He had liked Ikuya’s apartment more, just 15 minutes away, closer to the school too, where Hiyori had stayed over every weekend and most afternoons too after classes, always waking up to the sun shining through the windows of Ikuya’s apartment. Though the happy feeling he had there was probably all because he always woke up next to Ikuya.

So, when three years ago, Ikuya had asked them to move in together and found a perfect apartment for the two, he finally got to feel that feeling every morning.

He looked out of the tall windows of their apartment, into the road that led straight to the beach. He had wanted to stay close to the ocean. It might have been just an old habit, but the sight made him calm.

In this apartment, Hiyori had graduated as a marine biologist just 6 months ago, applied for a job and finally gotten accepted to work as an assistant to other marine biologists at the Shimogami University a month ago.

Just a week after that, had Ikuya proposed to him in the same kitchen they both still sat in. A _new_ part of his morning routine was to take a moment to admire the golden band in his finger when it reflected the sun from the windows, identical to the one on Ikuya’s hand.

It had been pretty much a turning point in both of their lives, though not much had truly changed because of it. Ikuya had already finished his studies too, but still remained in the swim club for another semester. His fiancée had been scouted from their university’s team many times during the years and he still had time to decide where he wanted to continue afterwards. Luckily, on that list of potential personal coaches was also one that was located in Tokyo, at the International Swimming center, just a 30-minute commute from their apartment.

With both of their new jobs, the engagement and the wedding they had began to plan, (like putting together the guest list of Ikuya’s family, his school friends, Hiyori’s university friends and a few people from the Underwater association he had gotten to know over the years), so the future looked very bright.

“Mom invited us to dinner this weekend. Natsuya’s visiting but I think she just wants to hear about the proposal.” Ikuya rolled his eyes. “Have you already told your parents?”

Hiyori had stayed in touch with his parents after the first year and settling down. He was happy that they were able to contact each other through letters every once in a while.

“I think I’ll send them a letter this week. I want them to know how happy I am too.” He smiled to himself, taking Ikuya’s hand on the table as they both sipped on their coffee one after the other.

“Even if our lives might change drastically in the next few years? You can’t know where your job will take you, and all of my competitions will probably be out of town or the country. I kind of hoped we could just stay here forever and not have to worry about being separated again.”

“I’m looking forward to it actually. Yeah, we can’t be sure what’s going to happen, but I want to move forward, especially when I know we’ll both always return here, to each other.” Ikuya squeezed his hand on the table. “I’ll always choose you, Ikuya.”

His fiancée gave him a soft smile that only slipped when Ikuya was still unguarded.

“Well, I’ll always be waiting for you, Hiyori.” He smirked. “But I don’t think the university will, so you better get ready.”

Hiyori took a look at the clock and jumped up from his seat, coffee almost spilling over. He leaped onto find the rest of his clothes, a suit jacket and his wallet. Ikuya handed him a toast as Hiyori put on his shoes in the hallway.

“When’ll you be back?” Ikuya asked, munching on his own toast and leaning on the wall.

“Before you, probably.” Before he turned the knob on the front door, he took the two steps separating him and Ikuya, and kissed him one last time. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

Hiyori stepped out of the door. Even if his new job _was_ one of his dreams come true, he was already waiting to get back home, to Ikuya.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't belive we're finally here :') I really have come to love this story so much and I'm sad to see it end, but I'm also relieved at having finished it lol xd
> 
> This epilogue was exactly how I wanted it, a short glimpse into their lives when they already were settled and had build their life despite all the doubts and difficulties they first had. I wanted to show how well they had found their own place in their lives and each other's. I hope I covered all the "loose ends" and there weren't any unanswered questions about their lives :) All I know that they'll be living it happily together ;)
> 
> This was just supposed to be a short fic about a merman that wanted to live on earth, but I'm truly happy if anyone really got to resonate with it. I'm super proud of how Ikuya and Hiyori came to trust themselves and each other and chose to live the life they truly wanted. 
> 
> Thank you everyone who read my little fic and continued commenting and giving kudos! I always love to hear your thoughts! <3


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